Emblem of Blood
by Alfae
Summary: The word of the Britannian Emperor is absolute in a full third of the globe. Over a billion souls live as subjects to the Emperor's will, pawns to be used as desired. But the Emperor will not live forever. Ambitious princes race for ultimate power in a world quickly coming under Imperial hegemony. The Emblem of Blood has returned. Eleventh Prince Lelouch vi Britannia is ready.
1. The Onslaught

**I. The Onslaught**

 _War and Politics in the 21st Century_ by Albert Kennedy

 _The First Atlantic War_

" _The conditions for the First Atlantic War had been brewing for years prior to the actual declaration. Leaders of Europia United had grown uneasy with the rate of Britannian expansion into South America and, later, the Pacific. But, due to the dual threats of the Berlin anti-parliament demonstrations, and the secession of the nations that would comprise the Middle Eastern Federation, the EU was left powerless to act during the Second Pacific War._

 _Subsequently, tensions rose to new heights when, upon discovery of the mass production of the Panzer-Hummels by the EU, Prime Minister Schneizel el Britannia declared a blockade on all exports of Sakuradite to the member states of the EU. Since Sakuradite mined from Area 11 matched the output of the rest of the world put together, the blockade immediately dropped Knightmare production rates in the EU by approximately 60%._

 _In retaliation President Gebhard and the EU parliament speedily passed a bill declaring a general cession of trade with the Holy Britannian Empire. Future historians have criticized the move, stating that it made war inevitable due to the billions of dollars of lost economic activity as a result, but at the time the EU happened to be quite willing to do anything to harm Britannia, even if it meant harming themselves._

 _As a result, decision makers in Pendragon determined that military action must be taken to restore trading relations and to humble the EU. And so, on February 2nd, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY, the Holy Britannian Empire declared that a state of war existed between the two global superpowers._

 _While the war kicked off with small skirmishes in the Atlantic between EU and Britannian vessels, the disastrous First Invasion of Gibraltar, and the subsequent Invasion of Morocco, led by Second Imperial Princess Cornelia li Britannia, began the war in full._

 _The war would end with official Britannian victory, although, later historians agree that the real winner of the First Atlantic War was the Chinese Federation…"_

 _Morocco - February 21st, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - Operation Sea Hammer._

 **Lelouch vi Britannia** _\- Eleventh Prince, Seventeenth in line to the throne._

The interminable hum of gunfire in the background had become white noise for Lelouch, broken up only by the occasional thunderous sound of yet another Sutherland being obliterated by the shore batteries lining the Moroccan coast.

Lelouch pushed his own Knightmare frame up the rocky shores and hoped that he wasn't the next unfortunate target of the Coastal artillery. With a sudden flick of his wrist and a press of a button the young Prince let loose a barrage of gunfire that laid waste to infantrymen that strayed too far past their armor wall.

' _It's fortunate that this terrain doesn't lend itself to entrenchment… Still, we need to take out those shore batteries, we're being torn to pieces…'_

The armor wall that stood in front of the artillery was primarily composed of antiquated weaponry such as tanks and mobile trucks carrying tens of thousands of infantrymen. Only a couple dozen _Panzer-Hummels_ , the European answer to the _Sutherland_ , were seen amongst the hundreds of other vehicles.

Lelouch had to give props to whoever led this defense, it was wise not to use too many _Panzer-Hummels_ in this rocky terrain where their lack of mobility made movement hard.

Lelouch proceeded to move his knightmare into a crouching position where he'd be safe behind the more captivating, standing, targets in front of him. He used the lull to observe the battlefield. The beach gradually grew steeper the deeper you advanced and the enemy was positioned on top of these semi-hills. The slow down of the Sutherlands as they advanced up the slope gave ample opportunity for the enemy armor to position their guns and blast a hole in the attackers. At first glance, there were no weaknesses in the line, but Lelouch had learned to disregard his first impression. The second impression was the one that counted.

Lelouch saw Cornelia and her Glaston Knights spearheading another direct assault on the enemy lines, but the line seemed just as full and stable as half an hour ago when the attack had begun. That meant that reinforcements were funneling in, but from where? Lelouch had a guess and, if correct, he might manage to tear apart the entire enemy line himself.

"Jeremiah. I want you and everyone else to follow me. Stay along the water where our reinforcements are being launched from, it'll provide us some cover." Lelouch didn't bother waiting for a response, he needed to enact his plan as soon as possible to minimize losses.

His _Sutherland's_ land spinners, which were adapted for the Moroccan beach, hummed as he sped along the sand towards the far right of the assault. Lelouch and the other officers had discussed how best to launch the assault and it was the consensus that while the terrain they had chosen wasn't ideal, it was preferable to the only other choice. The other choice happened to be a steep wall of rock that climbed up fifteen feet from the sand. It proved impossible for the Britannian infantrymen to scale and any concentrated attack on it would have resulted in the enemy putting just as much focus into the area, dooming the assault to disaster.

However, this wasn't a concentrated attack. Only 20 Knightmares made up Lelouch's entire unit, a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds deployed in the entire assault. If Lelouch's assumption was correct, that the reinforcements were coming from their forces stationed atop that rocky wall, then it might be a hole to be exploited.

It took a couple minutes for Lelouch and his troops to make it towards the rock face and he noted with a smile that the area was sparsely defended at best. He spotted maybe a dozen tanks and perhaps a few hundred infantrymen, or in other words, nothing for a Knightmare company.

"What's the plan your highness?" The voice of Jeremiah asked from his Knightmare besides Lelouch's own.

Lelouch proceeded to think about it for a few seconds and then tapped a button to ensure he would be broadcasted to his entire unit.

"Listen up. As you can see the Europeans have left this spot badly deprived of firepower. As we speak our friends and comrades are being torn apart by the dozens by these EU cowards who sit atop a hill and refuse to give open battle. If we can break through here we can roll up the entire line one by one, man by man, tank by tank."

He didn't need rousing cheers to know what his men thought about this. He felt the excited energy in the air, this was what they were looking for. They could avoid the meatgrinder that all the planners had been worried about if they were just able to pull this off. This was their chance.

"Monica and I will take units I-10 through I-20 and scale up that wall with our slash harkens. I want you all to spread out evenly along the wall so they can't cluster their fire once they spot us. Jeremiah, you take the remaining half of the unit once you see that we've secured the cliff and back us up as a second wave. Got it?"

A round of 'Yes sirs' met Lelouch's words.

Lelouch and his half moved up towards positions at the base of the rock wall and aimed their slash harkens.

"Initiate phase 1." Lelouch spoke calmly, though his heart was beating fast. This was his first real taste of combat aside from minor peacekeeping missions in the Areas or training simulations back at boot camp.

Ten pairs of slash harkens fired simultaneously and latched onto the rock, beginning to pull them towards the top. A tense 15 seconds passed as they eventually cleared the ledge and got their first good sight of the enemy.

It was not a pleasant one.

Instantly half a dozen shells came blasting out of the tanks and shore batteries. Fortunately they hadn't had a great idea of which directions the men were going to be coming up from, or even how many were scaling it. Unfortunately 3 _Sutherlands_ immediately became KIA after the first salvo.

It wasn't enough.

Once the remaining seven had found purchase on the cliff they sped towards the desperately reloading tank crews. Monica Krushevsky raced ahead of the rest of the unit, avoiding the next salvo of the remaining half dozen fresh tanks with ease. She weaved through the shells with the grace that only comes from the meeting of natural talent and constant practice. A missile shot out of each of her _Sutherland's_ shoulders and turned two of the reloading tanks into burning husks of metal.

Her daring assault had taken the focus off of the remaining six and they quickly began unloading on the tanks and infantry teams before them.

Lelouch unleashed his own missiles before mowing down a row of outmatched infantry with his chest mounted anti-personnel gun. He lost himself in the adrenaline rush as he moved about the little battlefield, tearing apart tanks, men, and after several minutes of carnage, compelled the operators of the coastal batteries to abandon their posts and run.

He had no remorse or hesitation as he shot the fleeing soldiers in the back.

"Pathetic." Jeremiah's voice spoke with disdain as he observed the fleeing soldiers. "There is no greater disgrace than dieing to a wound in the back, the mark of a coward."

"Lucky for us though, wouldn't you agree?" Lelouch said with a chuckle as he observed the aftermath of the battle with satisfaction. By the time Jeremiah's second wave had arrived all that remained was cleanup. The tanks were destroyed to a man and most of the fleeing soldiers lay face down amongst the rocks.

Jeremiah scoffed. "I would have preferred a real battle your highness. I gain no satisfaction as a soldier of the empire facing off against rabble like this."

"The battle's not over yet Jeremiah." Commented Monica besides them.

"That it isn't." Lelouch agreed. He looked around and did a quick headcount. They still had 16 operational Knightmares which meant that aside from the initial salvo, only one other had been killed.

"Very well then. While I'm sure the enemy would love nothing more than to send half their army here to repel us, they're too preoccupied with my sister. This is our chance, the shore batteries can't swivel around like the tanks can, and those tanks and few _Panzer-Hummel_ frames are going to be too busy with the Glaston Knights."

Lelouch smiled as a feeling of pride welled up in him as he spoke the words, "Phase one complete. It's time to initiate phase two."

The remaining sixteen members of the unit raced deeper behind enemy lines, heading towards where the main battle raged. The line had yet to move although Lelouch saw some of the tanks desperately trying to reposition as news came of the imminent assault coming from their left flank.

Too little, too late. The lack of flexibility in the European defensive plan had proven to be their folly.

The pilots of Lelouch's unit slammed into the already under fire defenders and began annihilating tanks and trucks that suddenly found that they were being pressed from two sides.

Lelouch raced towards one of the shore batteries and split a man's body clean in half with a slash harken before wiping out the rest with his gun. Several _Panzer-Hummels_ pulled back from the main line towards their interior to try and deal with Lelouch. However, Jeremiah and Monica rushed forwards alongside other members of his unit and made short work of the less mobile _Panzers_.

In a matter of minutes many of the most dangerous shore batteries found themselves deprived of their crews who came down with a sudden case of death.

After they had been dealt with Lelouch rallied up the members of his unit that weren't destroyed or focused on flanking the tanks. He charged head on into the back of the enemy's main line. This was the _schwerpunkt,_ what the Prussians called the decisive point, and Lelouch had found it. Cornelia and her forces in front of the enemy were the anvil and Lelouch's remaining unit would be the hammer that smashed the line.

The panicked tanks were utterly unable to maneuver in the clustered clash of metal and made easy prey for Lelouch's forces. One of the _Panzer-Hummels_ swung around to challenge Lelouch's knightmare and the Prince gladly accepted.

The machine fired off the two auto-cannons on its arms but both were simple to dodge at such close a range. Lelouch seized the opportunity of the missed shots and pressed in even closer with his Knightmare so that he could blast the cockpit apart with his assault rifle. However the _Panzer_ suddenly released its chest mounted missiles that Lelouch had not expected it to still have. His quick reaction time saved him the humiliation of defeat as he fired off his slash harkens directly into the missiles, causing them to explode prematurely. Unfortunately this resulted in his slash harkens being completely blown to pieces. But that seemed to be the _Panzer_ operator's last shot as the machine rushed to fall back from Lelouch. He didn't give it the opportunity as he finally unleashed his gun which tore the cockpit apart.

Lelouch moved past the now lifeless machine and prepared to engage another _Panzer_ behind it, but he didn't get the chance as a spear suddenly protruded from its back, causing the machine to explode before him.

Once the smoke had cleared Lelouch saw the purple Knightmare and cape that signalled that this happened to be the personal _Gloucester_ of the Witch of Britannia herself, Cornelia li Britannia. Looking around Lelouch noted that the enemy between his unit and the Glaston knights had been utterly annihilated and now the remnants of the _Panzers_ were in full retreat as they powerlessly watched the slower tanks and infantry surrender _en masse_.

Lelouch reclined back inside of his cockpit with satisfaction as he realized that his flanking attack had been the _coup de grace_ that had decisively broken the enemy. Phase 2 had been completed.

He couldn't contain himself and began speaking. "Hello there sister."

Cornelia's Knightmare seemed to freeze as she recognized the voice and the unit of his Knightmare. "Lelouch! Is that you?" The disbelief in her voice was so great that for a moment Lelouch thought she might drop her lance, luckily Knightmares aren't as vulnerable to emotions as humans seemed to be.

"The one and only." Lelouch responded triumphantly. During his operation Lelouch had briefly wondered if perhaps he should have asked permission for his little detour, but he decided that possible chastisement from his sister was worth it to win the battle. But his fears were unfounded as a hearty laugh rang out from Cornelia and her Knightmare clasped Lelouch's on the shoulder. He winced as he heard the metal of his machine crumpling under the powerful grip.

"That was damn good! Better than I'd expect from a scrawny little brother who used to have trouble wrestling off Euphemia!"

Lelouch scoffed at the teasing. "If I remember correctly you couldn't wrestle her off either."

Cornelia laughed again. "Couldn't?" Lelouch imagined her raising her eyebrow at him inside of the cockpit. "For me it was a lack of will to do so, I somehow doubt that's your excuse."

Lelouch sighed from inside of his cockpit and rubbed his forehead in annoyance. It seemed like no matter what he did or where he went he had no escape from teasing sisters.

IMPERIAL BRITANNIAN ARMED FORCES

KNIGHTMARE CORPS

31ST KC UNIT "INVICTUS"

FORMATION: 2015 a.t.b

STATUS: Active

PART OF: 2nd Imperial Army under Second Princess Cornelia li Britannia

COMMANDER: Eleventh Prince Lelouch vi Britannia

BIO: The 31st KC Unit "Invictus" was formed in the build up towards the outbreak of the First Atlantic War. It consisted of cadets from the recent graduating class of Knightmare pilots with the only veteran being Major Lord Jeremiah Gottwald, who was placed in the unit at the request of Prince Lelouch vi Britannia. The average Pilot rating of the unit is slightly above average, although the only Ace level score is that of Lady Monica Krushevsky.

Prior to the outbreak of the war, the 31st participated in peacekeeping missions in Area 6 without incident or distinction. After hostilities were initiated, the 31st was placed into Princess Cornelia's 2nd Imperial Army for Operation Sea Hammer to invade Morocco and North Africa. More veteran KC units were tied down in fending off the Invasion of Gibraltar by EU forces and so the 31st had to be used in the counter-invasion.

The unit served with distinction in the initial landing when it flanked the enemy lines, allowing Princess Cornelia's forces to break through. As a result the remaining 11 pilots, as well as the 9 casualties (7 deceased, 2 crippled), were granted the Imperial Cross for bravery. Prince Lelouch vi Britannia was also elevated to the rank of Colonel by Princess Cornelia li Britannia following the battle.

END REPORT

DATE: February 28th, 2017 a.t.b

REFERENCE

a.t.b - Ascension Throne Britannia, the Imperial Calendar.

RY - Revolutionary Year, starts with the Storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution in 1789.

Area 6 - South America

Sutherland - Primary Knightmare frame mass produced and used by the pilots of the Knightmare Corps in Britannia.

Gloucester - More close combat oriented version of the Sutherland, used famously by Cornelia's Glaston Knights.

Panzer-Hummels - Knightmare Frame used by the EU and its member states. Answer to the Sutherland. Less mobile but possesses more long range firepower than the Sutherland. Heavier armament but more fragile armor as a result.

 **A.N**

I hope you all enjoyed what I have so far. I certainly enjoyed writing it. Please bear with me, this story is both to finally contribute to the fandom of my favorite anime, as well as to improve my own writing abilities. I hope, and expect, to get better as the story continues.

If you have any questions or constructive criticism feel free to drop a review and let me know what you think. I'll probably respond to ones that need responding here at the bottom of the next chapter.

Speaking of next chapter, expect an update soon unless something wild happens, I already have ideas in mind and plan to have it ready over the weekend.

Review, follow, favorite, and most of all, enjoy.


	2. Tangier

**II. Tangier**

 _War and Politics in the 21st Century_ by Albert Kennedy

 _Economics of the First Atlantic War_

" _To an impartial observer the conflict between Europia United and the Holy Britannian Empire might have seemed weighted in favor of the Europeans._

 _Europia United was almost twice as populous as its adversary, and possessed 40% of world GDP share at the time, to the 30% of the Britannians. GDP per capita remained higher in Europia United and its colonies consistently proved more productive than the corrupt and wasteful Area system._

 _Numbers, however, can conceal the truth if used improperly. I prefaced the claim of the Europeans having the advantage with the word 'might' because, in reality, it was entirely untrue._

 _Nationalism had been surging in the member states of Europia United, and its leadership was going through a painful process of decolonizing Africa and turning parts of it into full-fledged participants in the Union. As a result, various administrations realized that while decolonization was paramount in retaining Africa, nations like the Netherlands or France were very uncooperative when pressured to surrender their colonies._

 _The decision makers in the Parliament were disliked by the African natives who saw the ongoing decolonization as far too slow and small-scale, they had irritated the European national governments by forcing them to give up their empires, and the Berlin anti-parliament demonstrations proved that not even the people supported the assembly of upper class European plutocrats._

 _The Britannians were united under the iron fist of Emperor Charles zi Britannia. Members of the Imperial Family that led the war effort, such as Prime Minister Schneizel, or Princess Cornelia, had absolute loyalty and dedication to the cause. Their entirely Britannian armies existed in sharp contrast to the ethnically diverse makeup of the various European National armies._

 _The Prussians must be blamed to an extent for the ultimate European failure in the war. They insisted on being the sole producers of the Panzer-Hummels, reminding counterparts in Paris or Rome that it was their engineers who devised it, which led to a chronic lack of Knightmares in the European forces. One cannot help but be surprised at the petty national rivalries that remained in Old Europe even in the face of domination by a foreign empire…"_

 _Morocco - February 24th, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - City of Tangier_

 **Lelouch vi Britannia** _-_ _Eleventh Prince, Seventeenth in line to the throne._

"Knight to D5." Lelouch muttered to himself out of habit as he carried out the announced move.

His opponents blue eyes momentarily widened before narrowing in concentration. Her blonde hair fell down around her as she leaned in to get a better look at the board, coming dangerously close to knocking some of the pieces over. She crossed her arms inelegantly onto the table in front of them and let out a little huff. Her mouth opened slightly as the seconds passed, giving Lelouch a glimpse of pure white teeth. He had to admit that her 'thinking face' was rather cute.

"Any day now captain." Lelouch remarked as the minutes racked up. "Or are you planning on waiting until we're forced to leave for the next offensive?"

She gave an irritated huff. "I don't remember you saying we had time limits."

"Yes, but that was before I realized your plan is to win by attrition." He responded dryly. When he didn't get a response, as the woman continued to plan her next move, his attention drew away from the rather dull match.

 _Crack!_

The sharp sound drew Lelouch's attention to the game of billiards that Jeremiah and three other officers were playing in the 'lounge'. The table had been generously 'donated' by the Moroccan governor of Tangier along with use of his mansion for the purpose of lodging the Britannian Officer Corps.

The room was luxurious, decadent even. It was as large as the ballroom in the Aries Villa and comfortably held the hundred or so officers that were making use of it. It split up into two tiers, with the smaller top section acting as a balcony, overlooking the more spacious bottom. Two ivory white stairways a dozen paces away from each other connected the two floors. Lelouch could easily make out the polished gleam of the gold trim on the handrail. It seemed that the governor had lived in quite luxurious conditions for a 'public servant'.

Dozens of tables were spread out across the bottom section, being used for games, drinks, and to support the feet of the men and women who were enjoying their rightful conquest. The top section was decorated with plush sofas and chairs for the officers to sprawl out on. The rich oranges, reds, and browns of the Moroccan leather provided a pleasant contrast to the otherwise painfully white room.

"There!" Lelouch heard a light tap of a piece being moved on the wooden board, another generous 'gift' by the former governor, and returned his attention to his opponent. He had to stifle his laughter as he observed her move.

"Monica… This is what you came up with after 10 minutes?" Lelouch said in mock disappointment, shaking his head. It was quite a show watching her brief satisfaction slip away as he captured the bishop she had unknowingly offered up on a silver platter.

"Check." Lelouch spoke as he grabbed her captured bishop and spun the prisoner between his fingers.

"What?!" Monica's expression growing baffled as she saw his retaliation. A light blush of embarrassment broke out on her face as she realized her move triggered a trap he had been planning for some time now.

Lelouch couldn't help but enjoy the emotional turmoil and disbelief on Monica's face. It was rare for his opponents to be so emotive in a game of chess, which lended itself to cooler heads and calm faces. It served as a sharp contrast to his elder brother Schneizel who could be perfectly calm even as he lost piece after piece, only to suddenly turn the match on its head with a plan he had thought of 10 turns in advance.

As the emotions calmed down, Lelouch resigned himself to another 10 minutes of waiting as Monica pondered her next move. The girl clearly didn't play much chess, but the ace sure as hell was competitive enough to give it her best try, which for him meant long waits as she tried to think through the possibilities.

But their match got interrupted by a man walking up to them.

"Your highness." His voice was unsure, as if Lelouch would strike the man down for daring to speak to the blood of Charles zi Britannia, and he bowed his head in respect.

"Yes?" Lelouch spoke quickly, conveying annoyance that wasn't directed at the man but made him shift nervously all the same. In truth Lelouch was annoyed by the amount of reverence these people were forced to give him, simply by virtue of his name. Was any man inherently better than another? Should respect not be earned through choices and actions? Instead his royal blood gave him a level of respect he did not deserve, or desire. The whole system infuriated him. And as a member of the Royal Family he would forever be a part of the system, another prince playing around with the lives of men and women who had aspirations and loved ones.

 _Disgusting._

"uh- , I'm sorry for the interruption your highness." The man bowed again. "But Princess Cornelia is requesting your presence, she says it's urgent. Again, I'm sorr-"

"It's all right." Lelouch cut the man off, not in the mood to see the pitiful prostrations any longer. He stood from the comfortable Moroccan leather and headed over to the stairways. Monica immediately followed after him, chess game forgotten.

"Jeremiah." Lelouch called out as he neared his billiard table. "Come."

The pure blood wasted no time in dropping the game as he rushed over to his commander's side.

"Is something going on?" He inquired.

Lelouch shrugged as he climbed up the stairs. "I'm being summoned by my sister apparently, the man who informed me didn't explain why."

"It might have had to do with the way you scowled at him." Monica suggested cheerfully, seriousness gone now that the competition had been put on hold.

"I wasn't scowling _at_ him. I had something else on my mind." Lelouch defended.

"Were you upset at his audacity to look the great Lelouch vi Britannia in the eye?" She replied cheekily.

Lelouch smirked at her. "I didn't realize you were Sigmund Freud on top of being a chess genius?"

She gave a little huff at the mention of her chess prowess and looked away from his smirk as they exited the lounge.

The occupation of Tangier was not a peaceful one. The Europeans retreated into the city with the remainders of their army and had tried to wear out the Britannians with a long siege. Unfortunately for them Cornelia was in no such mood to play. She gave the order for complete shelling and bombing of the city and the defenders. They held out for only a day before deciding to cut their losses and regroup in the city of Tetouan, 25 miles east of Tangier.

The bombing stole the lives of over 30,000 men, women, and children, but Cornelia's plan ensured that not a single casualty occurred to those that mattered, aka Britannians.

It appalled Lelouch the way his family seemed to disregard human lives. Killing enemy warriors was one thing, they knew what they had signed up for, but civilians that were just trying to live their lives? The international ban on targeting civilians outlined in the Geneva Convention? Simply a relic from a weaker, bygone era as far as Britannia was concerned. Still, the analytical side of him acknowledged that it was the most optimum move to make militarily, and street fighting may well have claimed just as many civilians. It didn't mean he had to like it though.

As Lelouch walked down the road leading to where the Britannian high command had set up their Mobile Base he was disturbed by the general atmosphere in the air. The Moroccans were extremely subdued and walked in silent masses along the streets, trying to avoid all contact with the occupying soldiers.

Thousands of infantrymen were spread out across the city to maintain martial law and ensure no civil uprising occurred. Lelouch had already begun to hear reports of the abuse being committed against the occupied civilians.

Rape. Looting. Murder.

The espoused honor and discipline of the Britannian army seemed to go out the window the moment they were off the battlefield and settled into an enemy city. It brought Lelouch back to the terrible atrocities he had been forced to see during the Second Pacific War as he and his sister, along with Suzaku, moved about the country just trying to survive. It was the only time where he was grateful for Nunnally's blindness, so that her innocence wouldn't become tainted by what she would have been forced to witness. He still wondered what had become of Suzaku as well as what would have become of him and his sister if they had stayed.

Lelouch suddenly heard the undeniable scream of a woman. "I said be quiet you dirty Mocro!"

He narrowed his eyes and saw the scene playing out some ways ahead of him. It looked to be a woman on her knees on the streets, cowering before a soldier. He could see the soldier raise the butt of his gun and slam it down on the woman's face. The smack could be heard clearly. There were dozens of civilians walking around the two, giving them a wide berth and pointedly not looking at the violence. Soldiers too, ordered to keep the peace, simply watched it play out mere feet from the pair.

Anger built up in Lelouch as he suddenly picked up his pace and began marching rapidly towards them. Nearby men quickly spotted the angry Prince and wisely stepped away from the two. However the man carrying out the act seemed to be too engrossed in his violence to notice. His arms moved to raise his gun again when Lelouch's voice cut through the tension like a knife.

"Enough."

The man turned around slowly and spoke prematurely. "Who the hell are yo-". The man choked on his words. Lelouch could see the man's eyes widen in recognition as he noticed the striking violet eyes and dark black hair of the Eleventh Prince.

"What do you think you're doing soldier?" Lelouch's eyes widened as he took in the sight of blood trailing down from the woman's forehead, dripping down onto something she held onto tightly.

A child.

The little girl's face was buried into her mother's bosom, held away from the attacker, protected from the cruel world.

It brought back horrifying memories of waking up to the sight of his mother, dead, on the stairway of the Aries Villa. Those bloodstained steps had taken Lelouch's innocence. The world had grown colder since that night, his only reason for living being his crippled little sister. That, and revenge.

A cold fury emerged in Lelouch. He didn't care what explanation the man had been blabbering about while Lelouch relived his worst memory. As far as he was concerned, no reason existed for this kind of scene to EVER happen. For a helpless little girl to cower as her mother was brutally beaten by an assailant.

He twisted his body as he shot his arm forwards, putting his weight into the punch. He caught the man square in the jaw, and brought him tumbling down. He looked down at the dazed soldier and delivered a gaze of pure contempt and loathing. His rage against his mother's assassins had been impotent, nothing had come of it.

This was not eight years ago.

The man, perhaps caught up in an adrenaline rush, started to rise and retaliate but was halted by the sudden movement of Jeremiah. The major stood directly over the man and put a hand visibly on the gun at his hip, making his threat quite clear.

"Don't even think about it."

Lelouch turned from the man to the silent mother. He attempted to reach down towards her but the woman's face grew frightened and she recoiled away from him.

He stepped back from her and instead looked at the now completely still group of soldiers who had just stood by and watched while this happened.

"I want that man arrested for disobedience. If I see this sort of incident ever again. If I hear that any soldier has been seen manhandling civilians. Then I swear as Lelouch vi Britannia that I will have you all executed. Understood?" The vitriol in his voice, and the furious eyes so reminiscent of the Emperor, caused the terrified soldiers to drop to their knees and readily agree to the orders given by the prince.

Satisfied, Lelouch turned to Monica. "Go make sure this woman is taken care of. Anything she needs, she gets. I'll pay for it myself if I have to."

"Yes, your highness!" Monica nodded and proceeded to her task.

With the men thoroughly chastised, and his mood thoroughly ruined, he and Jeremiah proceeded towards the Mobile Base. There were a few things he needed to have a talk with Cornelia about.

IMPERIAL BRITANNIAN ARMED FORCES

2ND IMPERIAL ARMY

OPERATION SEA HAMMER

COMMANDER: Cornelia li Britannia

OBJECTIVE: Secure areas of the Moroccan coast and proceed to capture the city of Tangier.

RESULT: Complete success.

BIO: Operation Sea Hammer, the planned invasion of North Africa through Morocco, was devised by General Bradley Stuart in 2012 a.t.b. The plan was deemed sound by Britannian High Command and was activated a day after the official declaration of war.

Cornelia's 2nd Imperial Army was attached to the fleet based in Havana, Area 3, and was launched on February 19th. The invasion force was centered around six _Stalwart Class_ carriers fitted with 250 Knightmare Frames, 300 supporting aircraft, and a 30,000 strong expeditionary force. Various destroyer groups operating in the Atlantic were rerouted to provide operational cover to the carrier group and intercept the European navy in the Straits of Gibraltar.

Clear weather enabled the invasion fleet to successfully unload and after a brief battle on the beaches, Princess Cornelia was triumphant. She advanced her forces to capture the critical city of Tangier while awaiting the second wave from the homeland to bring in the remainder of the 2nd Imperial Army.

END REPORT

DATE: February 24th, 2016 a.t.b

Area 3 - Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Mocro - Racial slur against Moroccans (?, a little unsure about this, apologies if any Moroccans were offended)

-

 **A.N**

 **Thanks for reading! This one was a bit of a 180 from the previous chap which was entirely a combat scene, but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you all enjoyed reading it.**

 **Gotta put in the disclaimer that ik my writing isn't perfect, or anywhere near it, but I hope to improve as the story progresses so please bear with me.**

 **Shoutout to the reviewers for Ch.1:**

 **Ryder77: I'm glad you liked the battle scene. No such one in this chapter unfortunately but there are definitely more coming up.**

 **DarthMaine: Yes there will most likely be geass, yes I plan to make use of as much of canon's cast as possible and keep OC's to a minimum. I don't exactly have the story mapped out on some plot tree but I do have a general idea of places I want to get to and scenes that I want to have happen.**

 **aaa: Thanks for the kind words, I hope so too.**

 **Anyway, if any of you have questions or constructive criticism feel free to drop a review. If you enjoyed the story please take the time to favorite/follow, it really does mean a lot.**


	3. Eleven

**_III. Eleven_**

 _Empire of Blood by Alexander Clement_

 _Area Eleven_

" _Area Eleven had a reputation as the achilles heel of the Britannian Empire. Constant domestic terrorism, international crisis, and the billions dedicated towards simply maintaining control of the small island nation would prove this reputation to be true._

 _To figure out the reasons for this aberration in Britannia's otherwise spotless record in breaking down resistance in conquered areas, one must examine the history of the island of Japan in depth._

 _Japan, much like other non-european nations, was relegated to the sidelines in a world dominated by the colonial empires of Europe. Desiring new sources of wealth, the monarchs of Europe sent forth explorers and traders all around the world to open new ports to European economic domination. Dutch and Portuguese traders gained access to Japanese harbors but the strictly isolationist Shogunate placed heavy sanctions on trade with foreigners._

 _Focused on the much more lucrative prospect of trade with the Chinese, and quite wary of the militaristic culture of the Japanese, the European nations only traded what little they were allowed and left the island nation to its own devices._

 _This isolationism came to an abrupt end with the arrival of Britannia. The fledgling empire's gunboats opened fire on the antiquated fleet of the Shogunate docked at Kyoto. The one sided battle left the entire Japanese fleet in ruin. The machinations of Napoleon left the exiled Monarchy of Britain locked out of European trade. Desperate for new sources of revenue, the Britannians demanded Japan open up its ports to foreign trade. Held at gunpoint by the fledgling empire, the Shogunate agreed._

 _Humiliated by the sinking of the Kyoto fleet, the nation vowed to avenge itself. The decades of rapid industrialization and modernization that followed would usher in the fall of the Shogunate, and the rise of the Emperor._

 _The period of 1890-1920 saw the Empire of Japan engage in almost constant warfare and competition with the Han emperors of China. During this timeframe, Britannian, European, and Russian aid flowed into Japan to assist them in their crusade against the Chinese. A weakened China would be unable to block their ambitions on the continent._

 _By 1914 the Japanese had conquered Manchuria, Taiwan, Hainan, as well as the former Imperial Protectorate of Vietnam. The Han Dynasty was divided internally and the 2,000-year-old line of Emperors seemed poised to collapse._

 _However, the start of The Great War in 1914 required the full attention of Japan's former benefactors. The cheap shipments of oil and natural gas that fed the Japanese military machine suddenly dried up, as they went instead to fuel the conflict in the western hemisphere._

 _At the same time, the internal civil war of the Han dynasty came to an end as Emperor Jiang Zhu, "the restorer", won out over his cousins in rival dynastic branches. The following years saw the Japanese rapidly pushed back from the Asian mainland. Emperor Zhu would go on to dominate and unify mainland Asia. This culminated with the formation of the Chinese Federation. The Han Emperor now ruled all of mainland Asia from the Vermillion Forbidden City._

 _Twenty years later the aging emperor would look towards Japan for his final triumph. The six year long War of Japanese Humiliation would see the successful invasion, and occupation, of Japan by Chinese forces. Unfortunately, just months later, the Emperor would die of natural causes. This put an end to any costly plans to fully incorporate Japan as a Militarized Zone of the Federation. The new emperor, Jiang Fan, enjoyed a far less secure power base than his father had._

 _With pressure from the once again outward looking EU and Britannian Empire, Emperor Jiang Fan agreed to the Treaty of Tokyo. It saw the Empire of Japan replaced with a satellite Republic in its place. Leaders in Paris and Pendragon agreed that the island was firmly in the Federation's sphere of influence. As long as no attempts were made to annex it, the two superpowers would not interfere._

 _The discovery of Sakuradite in Mount Fuji, and rebellion in India, would lead to the Republic of Japan throwing off Chinese domination and becoming a truly independent nation. The Federation had no choice but to agree, as any invasion of the island would lead to a choking of critical Sakuradite supplies. For the next half century Japan prospered._

 _However, as we have learned from history, militarily weak nations possessing vital resources while surrounded by more powerful empires never tend to last long. In a span of one month, while the Chinese and Europeans were distracted domestically, the Holy Britannian Empire under Emperor Charles defeated and annexed the island nation, putting an end to decades of democratic rule._

 _Seemingly to make up for its quick defeat, the people of Area Eleven would prove to be a constant thorn in the side of the empire, draining considerable time, resources, and manpower._

 _Now we can analyze what caused Area Eleven to mount so much resistance to Britannian rule compared to say, Area Nine._

 _Area Eleven's population at the time of conquest was somewhere around 120 million. Britannia spent the first few years of its rule of Area Eleven engaging in ethnic cleansing to remove the Japanese natives from cities such as Tokyo or Kyoto and relocating them into slums and villages. This effort, led by Viceroy Aster, would leave over 12 million Japanese dead or missing._

 _The Britannians instituted a colonization program to attract native Britannians into the now deserted cities of Area Eleven. However despite the numerous incentives and benefits offered, the population of Britannians on the island remained a tiny minority. The million or so Britannians that lived on the island by 2017 a.t.b were simply too small to run the country all by themselves._

 _The 'Number Codes', passed by Viceroy Clovis la Britannia, tried to keep 'Elevens' from obtaining any government position or political office. But despite being relegated to menial tasks, such as operating the Fuji mines, the Japanese possessed a great deal of power against their Britannian overlords. Strikes by workers were frequent and bloody. Terrorist organizations found informants everywhere, from janitors in City Halls, to servants in the Viceroy's Palace. People living in ghettos refused to cooperate with Britannian police, and only the presence of an entire Imperial Army from time to time kept the country from open revolt._

 _The next major factor would have to be the survival of key Japanese military officials and forces such as General Kyoshiro Tohdoh and the JLF…"_

 _Area Eleven - February 24th, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - Viceroy's Palace, Tokyo Settlement_

 **Clovis la Britannia** \- _Third Prince, Seventh in line to the throne._

Earl Alwin's _Fourth Composition_ drifted through the ballroom as noble lords and gentle ladies danced together throughout the lavish palace, twirling, and spinning to the music. The best of Area Eleven was present here.

All at his behest.

"The band is quite marvelous tonight, wouldn't you agree, your highness?"

Clovis turned his head towards the young lady who had approached him. She was wearing a finely tailored lavender evening gown. The strapless dress hugged her figure much like a corset would and accentuated her chest. The opening at the front gave him a rather nice view of her assets. It flared down towards the bottom into a more frilly design that cascaded down towards the polished floor.

Who was she again? _Ah yes_ , Lady Mary Cuthbert, the daughter of Lord Alan Cuthbert who happened to be the largest private landowner in Area Eleven apart from the viceroy himself.

He flashed her a brilliant smile and received a demure blush in return from the girl. She was young but he would have preferred her to have been prettier, a pudgy, round face taking away from the otherwise lovely body she possessed.

"I'm so very glad that you could make it, my lady. I've heard all about you from your father. It seems he's been far too modest in his descriptions of you!" She was quite shorter than he was so it made it easy for him to focus on her chest instead of her face while he delivered the compliment.

"Oh, my lord! Thank you so much!" The girl's face grew even redder and Clovis was sure he would have seen hearts in her eyes if he were to bother to look at them.

He considered feigning an excuse to go find someone prettier to associate with when he recalled that he had wanted Alan's support in constructing a new Royal Art Gallery in the Tokyo settlement. Ah the things he had to do for the betterment of his people!

"Would you like to dance my lady?" Clovis didn't even bother waiting for an answer as he stepped towards her and took ahold of the flustered girl's hands. He led her towards the dance floor and quickly began leading her through graceful, practiced motions. He made sure to press her body against his chest and kept a firm hand on her ass the entire dance. Of course the girl was too enthralled by the attentions of the Third Prince to be concerned about the obvious groping going on. Besides, it was a _slow_ dance!

Two songs and one excuse later Clovis bid his goodbye to the utterly lovestruck girl and began looking around the ballroom for any other young 'allies' he could… _cultivate_.

"Ah, your highness, how are you this evening?"

 _Damn_ , he cursed to himself internally before turning around to face his new companion.

A rather fat, middle aged man stood before him. The man was enormous, even discounting his weight, and he stood taller than Clovis himself.

 _Not taller than Schneizel though_ …

The man's face was bright red and, if he were a woman, Clovis might have mistaken it for hopeless attraction towards him, but judging by the nearly empty glass of wine in the man's hand he figured it was probably the alcohol.

But Clovis actually quite liked the Duke of Utah . He was a jovial and easygoing man that laughed at every joke and enjoyed every party he attended. His face may be constantly red, but Clovis liked the man's lack of pomp and ceremony. He also liked the absolutely massive gold mines he owned, and the quite generous donations he made to the Viceroyal regime of Area Eleven.

"Claus! I'm doing fantastically. Are you enjoying yourself tonight?" Clovis plastered on a smile.

"Oh this occasion is quite marvelous, your highness. I'm very happy that you decided to invite me."

Clovis laughed. "It was hardly a choice! A man like you who's done so much good for the people of Area Eleven? I would have rather called this entire party off than not invite you." Clovis could swear the man really _was_ blushing at this point as his face reddened to a dangerous degree. "Besides, the men and women gathered here are the most distinguished in all of Area Eleven. You couldn't be left outside these doors with the rabble, now could you?"

Duke Claus laughed alongside Clovis.

 _Really this is far too easy to do…_

He couldn't help but be a little disgusted at the way the man's jowls bounced up and down as he laughed. Really some nobles ought to take care of themselves, it wasn't proper for them to go around looking as fat as an Oriental bureaucrat.

Finally the man stopped laughing and stepped to the side, revealing a woman that had been hidden behind his girth. "Prince Clovis, have you met my wife Natalie?" He pressed her forwards towards him.

The girl was an absolutely stunning, blonde bombshell. She also looked to be not even half the 40 year old Duke's age. Clovis was immediately taken with the woman. He stepped forwards and grasped the girl's hand, bringing it up to his lips where he gave it a soft kiss.

"My lady." Clovis smiled at her. "Your wife is very lovely Claus, I'd love to have her in for a portrait one of these days. It's so hard to come across the right models you see…"

He could already imagine the way her lovely golden hair would glow in the light. Perhaps seat her next to a window? Her blue eyes would contrast nicely against the rich brown frames of Clovis' bedroom. And this _would_ take place in his bedroom of course…

He kept his smile fixed towards the blushing girl even as Claus rushed to give his assent to Clovis' request. Surely she would appreciate not being crushed in bed by an old lecher for once? Claus had a reputation after all, and this girl was his third wife in the past four years.

"Say, Claus." Clovis turned towards the man, cutting off whatever he had been saying. "Have you noticed the bottles of Lyon Rougé? I've heard they're quite in fashion in Pendragon."

The fat man's face lit up at the prospect of tasting more wine. "I hadn't your highness! Please excuse me, I _must_ go and try it!" The man emphasized the word as if it were an edict from the Emperor himself that he go and get drink Clovis' wine.

"Fantastic, you go do that. I'll keep Natalie company." Clovis wasn't sure the man even heard him as he turned and made immediately for the drinks areas. It seemed he didn't much care for what his wife was doing, all the better for Clovis.

He turned on his well bred smile towards Natalie. "Well my dear, would you like to have a da-"

A hand patted Clovis on the shoulder, a complete breach of protocol. Clovis turned around, glare already planted on his face as he prepared to chide the offender.

It was Bartley.

 _Of course._

He scowled even harder at the man nervously standing in front of him in full military wear. This was a _ball_ for heaven's sake. Couldn't he at least have worn something appropriate? Clovis could already see eyes turning towards the man who stuck out like a sore thumb. "What is it?" He hissed leaning in close to Bartley.

"Um… my prince it's the District Hall in the Itabashi ghe-"

"Get to the point Bartley, I'm busy here."

The man began sweating profusely as he nodded rapidly. Clovis had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. If it weren't for the fact Bartley was his most loyal agent, he wouldn't have kept around a man prone to such unseemly behavior.

"Is it important?" Clovis sighed.

"Yes, terroris-"

Clovis' eyes widened and he gracefully planted an arm on Bartley's shoulder and squeezed tightly. "Not in here you fool!" He tried to keep his voice down as he spoke.

He turned around and bid a rushed goodbye to the thoroughly confused Natalie and practically dragged Bartley out into a hallway in a restricted section of the palace, without eavesdroppers.

"Now what's this about terrorists?" Clovis asked.

"Uh, well you see your highness… There's been a terrorist attack on the District Hall in the Itabashi ghetto…"

Clovis scowled. "What are the losses?"

"They exploded a bomb inside of the building sire… We're not sure but over a hundred elevens and twenty-four Britannians are estimated dead."

Clovis' eyes widened. "Twenty-four Britannians? That's twice as much as the attack last month on the Aston Plaza!" He slammed his gloved fist into the wall besides him, causing Bartley to flinch back away from the prince. "This is completely unacceptable! Do you know how it looks back in Pendragon when all they hear from Area Eleven are reports of dead Britannians? It's hard enough as it is to get families to move here, and these constant attacks are completely drying up tourism."

"I-I know my prince." The man gulped nervously. "Please… Accept my apology your highness." The general fell down to the ground in a display of subservience that rather pleased the Viceroy.

"Get up Bartley. What about the terrorists? Do we know what group carried out the attack? Raito? Yamishiki? The JLF?"

"No my prince. It doesn't seem to be any of the major groups." Bartley got up as he answered.

"Well where are they now? Have they been captured? We could make a nice spectacle out of a terrorist execution…" His mind was already drifting to ways to downplay the loss of Britannian lives and instead frame the whole thing as an anti-terrorism victory for the Viceroyal regime.

To Clovis' growing frustration Bartley shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not your highness. They snuck in to detonate the bomb before running away back into the ghetto, they've probably blended back in with the civilian population by now."

His eyes narrowed slightly at the implication. "So does that mean…?"

Bartley nodded with a smile on his face. "Yes my prince, we have the ghetto surrounded by military police and three full Knightmare Units in place. They're Purists so there should be no qualms… We're awaiting your orders."

Clovis smiled back. "Good. Let's go then, this needs to be handled carefully." He stepped past Bartley and headed towards the Military HQ located in the Viceroy's Palace. It was essentially a more fleshed out mobile base, just without the mobile part.

Staff officers were already waiting at their stations by the time Clovis and Bartley arrived. He made his way over to his chair and sat down. "Well?"

One of the officers pressed a button and immediately the screen in front of him flared up with a detailed map of the Itabashi ghetto.

"Your highness. We have squads of knightmares and military police completely surrounding the ghetto. Laszlo, Bernhardt, Ribbentrop, Atlas…" As the staff officer read off the names of the units their IFF signals flared up on the screen, slowly revealing the dozen squads and sixty Knightmares that made up the force.

"Alright. Let's begin." Clovis focused in on the map of the rather large ghetto as he pondered the first move. "Do we have any estimates on how large this group is?"

"I'm sorry your highness. This seems to be a rather new terrorist group so we don't have any informants on them… But it's safe to estimate in the dozens."

Clovis frowned at the completely unhelpful information. What was he paying his intelligence for if they couldn't get information on a group that had committed an attack as big as this?

"Fine. Send in all the honorary Britannians from the military police first. I don't want to lose a knight thanks to any trap set up by these elevens." Clovis' orders were quickly relayed to the units by the officers and he watched as the troops moved into the ghetto.

"They are to search and interrogate every home and eleven in the ghetto. If the inhabitants aren't cooperative they are to be declared terrorists and killed."

A lesser man might have felt remorse in what he was doing. But Clovis was the Third Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. A few thousand dead elevens mattered little in the grand scheme of things. He needed to show the terrorists that any attempt at resistance would only get their own people killed, maybe then they'd finally stop being such a nuisance in his administration.

Absorbed in his thoughts the prince waited, and waited, and waited... But after half an hour of no significant developments he began to grow frustrated. "What is going on?" He demanded from his men.

"It seems as though the troops aren't finding any signs of the terrorists… The Elevens are all claiming to not know a thing about their whereabouts." Bartley reported.

Clovis sighed. "Well if they want to make it hard on themselves then so be it." He stood up and approached the screen. "On order of Clovis la Britannia, Viceroy of Area Eleven, I decree that all inhabitants of the Itabashi ghetto are to be exterminated until the terrorists are found." He thrust an arm out towards his officers dramatically as he gave his edict before turning back around to a chorus of "Yes, your highness!"

What followed was a scene not seen by many of the Elevens since the Second Pacific War. The knightmare frames encountered virtually no resistance as they toppled buildings and mowed down droves of terrified elevens. Honorary Britannians were forced to break into homes and shoot every man, woman, and child they found. Those that refused to comply with the order were killed for treason.

Clovis' smile only grew with every new report of a neighborhood being turned to rubble or an apartment building being cleansed. Finally, he stood up again and turned to Bartley. "I trust that you can handle the rest? I'm heading back to the party."

With that, he strolled right back inside of the grand ballroom where the event was still in full swing. Adoring nobles applauded his return and announcement that he had just eradicated a group of notorious terrorists from Area Eleven.

 _Now to find Natalie…_

Amber eyes gazed dispassionately at the sea of corpses surrounding her. The broken and bullet filled bodies of men, women, and children were scattered amongst the rubble of the former apartment building. She almost tripped as her foot caught in something. Glancing down she noticed that the 'something' was a disfigured body of a little girl. Her tattered pink sundress was riddled with bullet holes and wide brown eyes gazed eternally up at the darkening skies. An arm, whose shattered joints and torn ligaments left it only loosely connected to the rest of the girl's torso, held onto a dirty little stuffed bear.

She knelt down with no change in her expression and closed the little girl's eyes.

At least she'd find peace in death.

She also took the bloodied teddy bear, prying it away from the girl's tight grip. Upon closer examination she noted that it was tattered and patches of stained brown fur were falling off, leaving stuffing exposed. The thing was cheap, worthless even.

She hugged the toy tightly to her chest and began walking away from the little girl's body.

"Hey! You there!"

She turned sharply towards the voice, expecting to see the gun of a Britannian soldier. But she only saw a boy, perhaps 20 years of age, with dirty clothes and a haunted look in his black eyes. She didn't respond to him and instead just stared.

If he was off put by her gaze he didn't show it. "You shouldn't be out here, they're still looking. Come on!" She was surprised as he grabbed her hand and began pulling her away. Curious about where she was being led, she made no efforts to resist and simply gazed at the long, green hair trailing behind her. She saw the body of the little girl slowly shrink and recede into the distance as she ran further and further away.

A few minutes later she was led to a large pile of rubble. The small opening forced her to crawl underneath a heap of broken stone and wood and, suddenly, she found herself in a small little attic that had survived the initial attack. The room was completely stuffed with at least 15 other inhabitants. Their eyes were wide at the atrocities they had been forced to witness be committed against their neighbors, friends, and family. Some were shivering frightfully, despite the high temperature of the closed space.

They gave her a wary and cautious look but calmed down once they saw the boy that had led her crawl in after her. Deciding to stay, she looked around the room and moved over to where a little boy was sitting against the wall, knees tucked in towards his chest and face gaunt.

He recoiled away from the odd looking girl.

She gave the boy a slight smile and handed the stuffed teddy bear over to him. "Here, you can have this." She spoke in as gentle a voice as she could muster, memories of comforting little Mao coming back to her.

The boy's eyes lit up with some semblance of what could be called happiness as he looked at the offered toy. "R-really?"

She nodded and waited for him to take it. The boy eagerly took the bear from her and hugged it dangerously tight to his chest. It didn't look like the stuffed animal was going to survive the night.

With her no longer being a stranger in the boy's eyes, lovely how the mind of children worked, he pressed up against her. She gave the boy an odd look, but he didn't seem to notice as his little head rested against her side while the bear was firmly trapped in his arms. Slowly her own arms rose to engulf the boy in an embrace as she offered him the comfort of another 'living' being.

They stayed that way for the next hour or so. The boy that had brought in CC going out periodically and coming back with another terrified survivor.

Except for the last time.

He had been gone for over twenty minutes, twice as long as he usually took, and some of the people were getting nervous. A woman especially, who CC now realized was likely his mother, was trembling as her gaze remained firmly locked on the small entrance to the hideout.

A great force shook the entire attic as the roof was taken off quite suddenly. The massive, cold, metallic hands of a Knightmare were visible as the outside world suddenly came crashing into the discovered room. Screams of pure terror and hopelessness rang out into the cool night air as the machine lifted and aimed its gun.

The world never changes...

CC kept the boy's head pressed against her chest as she squeezed her arms even tighter around him.

She closed her eyes.

REFERENCE:

Area Nine: New Zealand

Empire of Blood: History book about Britannian subjugation and oppression of conquered territories.

Duke of Utah: A lot of fiefdoms might be named after present day states, but those fiefdoms aren't necessarily the same size as the states are in real life.

Viceroy Aster: The first viceroy of Area Eleven prior to being replaced by Clovis when it was decided a more 'gentle' touch was needed.

Yamishiki/Raito: Terrorist organizations that may come into play later.

JLF: Resistance organization that _will_ come into play later.

Han Dynasty: Ruling dynasty of China for over 2,000 years. Empress Tianzi of the Chinese Federation is a member.

Earl Alwin: dude writes music idk

The Great War: I'll probably elaborate on this more in a future 'history' segment. But it involved Britannia, the EU, Germany, and Russia.

 **A.N**

 **So I really hope you guys liked this section. Ik it's not from Lelouch's perspective but I wanted to set things up for later down the line. It was a lot of fun writing in Clovis' head and I hope you guys find some humor in it. I didn't edit this chapter much due to a lack of time but I hope the errors aren't too bad.**

 **Please tell me if you guys don't like the history sections in the beginning. I think they help to give information and context without forcing me to shoehorn in exposition. If people don't like them I'll shorten them as much as possible.**

 **Also I wanted to talk about update schedules and story length. I'm not going to set up a schedule for updates but it's safe to expect an update once a week, at least until school starts. As for length, this one was a bit longer than previous chapters, but I'll try to stay around 3-5k so that I can have reasonably fast updates.**

 **The Rupture: Haha yeah Monica is definitely a rare character. I don't really have a pairing in mind for the story yet, but it's certainly an option. As for Viletta, well you'll probably see her soon in the next few chapters.**

 **McDcucky: Thanks! I love the kind words.**

 **Prodigal Knight: I hope I can live up to the potential you see.**

 **Arden: Thanks for the good luck, I'm excited for the story too.**

 **Please leave a review if you have any questions, comments, or constructive criticism. Favorite/Follow if you're interested, it means a lot.**


	4. Power

**_IV: Power_**

 _War and Politics in the 21st Century_ by Albert Kennedy

 _The First Atlantic War_

" _One can simplify the circumstances of the war into a simple analogy. The Europeans were an inwardly focused empire in decline, much like the later Roman Empire. After the age of colonialism had ended the Europeans suddenly stopped expanding their realm. The horrific losses in The Great War seemed to permanently reduce the once mighty EU into a completely reactionary empire. When national assemblies in Spain and Italy resisted decrees made by the Council of Forty in Paris, the Council relented. When African colonies demanded greater autonomy, the Council relented. When the Middle Eastern Federation declared its independence from the EU, the Council relented._

 _Despite having men, material, and cooperation from National Governments, the Council was reluctant to engage in war._

 _This meant that when the First Atlantic War broke out, decision makers in Paris were left flat footed. No offensive strategy was in place to bring the war to Britannian shores, despite naval parity, and as a result the cities being fought over would be European ones._

 _Britannian invasions in Spain, Morocco, and South Africa would completely divide the already decentralized forces of the EU even further. Meanwhile the Empire could make precise, focused strikes with forces led by a coherent central authority. Citizens in South Africa were left waiting desperately for aid from Paris, or for national forces in neighboring member countries. The case of Morocco was especially egregious as almost immediately the nation was deemed indefensible and abandoned by the generals of the EU. This, of course, led to much consternation among Moroccan leaders…"_

 _Morocco - February 28th, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - City of Tangier_

 **Lelouch vi Britannia** _\- Eleventh Prince, Seventeenth in line to the throne._

"I think it's very clear what we ought to do." General Andreas Darlton's deep voice rang out across the room. "We need to move quickly before the Europeans can regroup. Their grip on Tetouan is flimsy and if we hit them now, we can smash them."

The holographic monitor that they were all gathered around flashed as Darlton pressed a point on the displayed map. The screen zoomed in close to the Western Mediterranean and the important cities of the region began to appear.

Seville, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, appeared in the northwest as part of the Iberian Peninsula. Along the center were the cities of Tangier, where a purple cluster of icon represented their forces, and merely 26 miles from Tangier was the city of Tetouan.

"We've gotten word that many of the forces that resisted us in the landing have moved further east of Tetouan, heading deeper into Algeria. It's clear that they don't expect to hold onto the city and we shouldn't waste time in taking it." A trail of blue icons represented the assumed path of European retreat further into the nation of Algeria.

"Isn't it suspicious for them to split their forces and leave a portion to simply die?" A Brigadier General besides Lelouch spoke up and voiced his concerns.

"The Moroccans aren't going to abandon their cities for a defense-in-depth strategy that would take them into Algeria." Lelouch hadn't even realized he was speaking until the words were already out of his mouth.

He wasn't technically supposed to be a part of this meeting, seeing as he was only a Colonel, but Cornelia had insisted. If anything were to happen to her, he would be the highest legal and military authority in the entire theatre of North Africa. Funny how none of the rules applied to royalty, not even in the military.

"Correct." Darlton agreed. He sent a small smile over to Lelouch. It was likely that the man was going to give the same answer.

"That essentially means the rest of the EU is conceding Morocco to us." Darlton continued.

"However, they'll be a lot more spirited won't they Darlton?" Cornelia asked rhetorically.

Darlton shrugged. "They can be as determined as they like your highness. It won't stop better men and material."

"That's what I like to hear. Now then, here is what we're going to do." Cornelia got up from her throne and stepped over to the screen everyone else had crowded around. Darlton and a few other officers moved to give her space as she stood at the head of the table.

"Now that the entire 2nd Imperial Army has arrived into the theatre, we will proceed with a two pronged assault. We cannot afford to leave our flanks vulnerable to guerrilla attacks by the Moroccans, and therefore we need to take the remainder of the country."

Cornelia pushed the map around with her hand and panned it over to include the entirety of the nation. It revealed the dozens of remaining major cities in the nation that still had to be captured, most being on the western coast.

"The Fifth Imperial Army will not be coming to reinforce us. They are instead being deployed to open up another front in South Africa. This leaves us having to go two directions with only one army."

Lelouch stared the the enhanced map of Morocco as his sister spoke. He had the suspicious feeling that the entire Britannian campaign was playing into the hands of the Europeans. Their series of easy victories in the Atlantic, the relatively simple conquest of Tangier, and even the half-hearted invasion of Gibraltar, something about it all was off.

"I will be heading east with Corps I through Corps VI. Meanwhile the subjugation of Morocco will be left to the remaining four Corps under General Alwin Albertson and… Prince Lelouch vi Britannia."

 _Wait. What was that?_

His head shot up and he stared at Cornelia incredulously. She gave him a small smirk before turning to once again address the rest of the gathered officers. Lelouch quickly looked around and saw that almost everyone else was as shocked as he was, so this hadn't been planned out by them in advance. The only ones not looking surprised were the familiar faces of Guilford and Darlton who gave him a knowing look.

"Your highness… Are you sure about this?" The same Brigadier General spoke up besides Lelouch to question Cornelia. It wasn't a stretch to assume he was likely miffed at being overlooked for the task in favor of a Colonel.

Lelouch couldn't blame him.

On paper it would seem like General Alwin would be in charge, but the man had no royal rank. He wasn't even a noble either, being one of the few commoners that attained a rank as high as General in the highly aristocratic favored military. Legally he would have no choice but to obey Lelouch's orders, seeing as he was a Prince. Effectively almost half of an Imperial Army was being handed over to a Colonel whose list of combat encounters could fit on an index card.

The archaic systems of the Empire really were spectacular weren't they?

"I'm very sure. General Alwin is capable and I am confident that my brother will prove to be a capable commander. Besides, they'll likely only be dealing with Moroccan national forces. Now, let's move on to specific troop allocatio-"

"But… your highness!" The officer made the mistake of interrupting Cornelia and not understanding when a topic was done being discussed. His sister fixed the offender with a harsh glare, completely stopping any further words that may have been about to come from his mouth. After a few moments of silence, whatever had driven him initially to speak out faded, the man bowed his head in apology.

The rest of the meeting concerned how the army would be split between him and Cornelia. She would be getting six corps, essentially 300,000 men, as well as the bulk of the Knightmare companies. He would be left with around 200,000 men, with the addition of a couple garrison divisions. Supply distribution, chain of command, operational plans for the future, etc etc. It all seemed to meld together and pale in comparison to the initial revelation of his assignment. This level of responsibility being given to a Prince only 17 years old was almost unprecedented. The only other royal family member in recent history with command on that scale was Cornelia, and even then she had a cadre of experienced officers that were loyal to her.

Lelouch would essentially be given free reign to subjugate Morocco and orchestrate a major part of the war.

It was exactly what he had been looking for. Power was what he wanted in the end after all. Of the dozens of imperial children, only a small handful possessed any meaningful sort of authority. That handful consisted of viceroys, such as Clovis, generals, such as Cornelia, and the unique case of Schneizel as the Prime Minister. This command was going to distinguish himself from the countless other Princes vying for the throne. It would establish him as a real player in the game for Imperial Succession, albeit one tied to Cornelia.

This definitely was not some absent minded assignment by his sister. She had to have known the implications of her decision, and what it meant for him. His suspicions were confirmed when he found himself being asked to stay while the other officers were dismissed after the meeting.

He immediately headed over to Cornelia on the other side of the display table once they were alone in the room.

"So how do you like my gift?" She asked him with a smile. "After our little fight two days ago about how I was 'mistreating' the natives, I was considering having you sent to Gibraltar, or even back home."

 _That_ was a surprise. Being sent to Gibraltar to serve under Prince Cassander? That would have been the end of his time in the First Atlantic War. After the first disastrous invasion, the Europeans seemed content, if a bit wary, to leave the little fortress to its own devices. And being sent back home in disgrace? That may have meant the end of his time in the military completely. His father was not a man for second chances.

"Corneli-" Lelouch was silenced by his sister as she placed a gloved finger on his lips and her other hand on his shoulder in a display of familial warmth.

"I came to my senses after calming down, and I began to understand your feelings. I'll admit, domestic policy isn't my forte. You'll be better off with Schneizel, or even Clovis, in that department. So here's your chance with some real power and responsibility."

He found his mouth slightly agape as he stared at his smiling sister. He hadn't expected to be _rewarded_ for the argument they had mere days ago. Lelouch had protested against the harsh treatment being inflicted on the occupied Moroccans by the Britannian soldiers, and indeed it was cruel and unjust. But his sister had firmly disagreed with any notion of cracking down on the troops in what she deemed 'a naive exercise to make you feel better'. He had come to terms with the idea that he would have to live with it, he was only her subordinate, but suddenly all that had proved to be false.

An immense sense of gratitude overcame Lelouch. He had thought of his sister as completely bullheaded and unrelenting, perfect for military pursuits, but incompetent for anything else. Nothing but shame remained when he considered his false evaluation of Cornelia. He had completely underestimated her willingness to change.

Lelouch inclined his head towards his already taller sister and spoke earnestly, "Thank you… You don't know how much this means to me."

He felt her arms wrap around him in a strong, yet warm brace. Laughter resonated from where her head rested on his shoulder.

"Gratitude from Lelouch vi Britannia? The world must be ending." She pulled back from him but kept a hand on each of his shoulders and held him in a firm grip whilst maintaining eye contact.

"I promise you sister, I won't fail." As he spoke Lelouch knew that the weight he put on this promise was the weight he put on any promise he made to Nunnally or Euphemia. It was the weight of staying true to a loved one.

"I know you won't Lelouch, I have faith. Faith that the next time I see you I'll be waving from the other side of the Suez."

He quickly picked up on the humor of her tone and the implied challenge in her words. "I doubt it. Perhaps I'll come flank Algier for you once you finally reach it, it'll be nostalgic."

Cornelia snorted in a display of unrefinement that would have been unacceptable for a Princess in public. "You win one victory and suddenly think you're Alexander the Great. Besides, how do you plan to flank them? From the Sahara?"

"I'll come up with a way to make it work." Lelouch shrugged.

 _Morocco - March 1st, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - City of Tangier_

Lelouch overlooked the procession of troops exiting the city from his vantage point on the roof of the Governor's Mansion. Cornelia had already left the city and was making preparations to capture Tetouan.

She had taken most of her Knightmare Companies and as much infantry as she could fit on trucks. Now she was waiting for the remainder of her corps to catch up on foot. The Moroccans had bombed the roads connecting Tangier and Tetouan, which would make movement difficult. But the cities were close enough that it would only be a minor delay to his sister's plans.

"Magnificent, isn't it your highness?" Jeremiah's voice held a certain tinge of reverence towards what he was witnessing. The sight of tens of thousands of troops marching out of the city in pristine ranks was sure to inspire any Britannian patriot.

He nodded, the sight truly was magnificent.

"And soon enough we'll be heading out of the city ourselves." Monica added excitedly. "How does it feel your highness? To go from leading nineteen 'ragtag' pilots to 200,000 soldiers?"

Lelouch replied honestly, "Disconcerting."

She smiled and gave him a pat on the back. "Don't worry, Jeremiah and I will be here to help you. Not to mention old general Albertson too!"

He returned Monica's smile briefly before turning back to the procession.

"Speaking of the man, is he trustworthy my prince?" Jeremiah asked him.

Lelouch shrugged. "I can only assume he is. Cornelia wouldn't have given him to me otherwise."

Jeremiah nodded. "Then this is the opportunity you've been waiting for."

The man was right. The whole point of him enlisting in the military was to gain distinction and true command. He hoped the Emperor was watching. He wanted him to see as his son won victory after victory and vanquished the empire's foes. He wanted him to realize that Lelouch was worthy of the name vi Britannia, worthy of his blood. He wanted him to understand, when Lelouch stuck a dagger in the man's heart, that it was his choices that ultimately led to his downfall.

 _Calm down..._

Lelouch sighed and spared one last sight at the departing soldiers before turning to Jeremiah and nodding in agreement. "Yes. I can't afford to make any mistakes in this endeavor. I'm grateful for the loyalty you've both shown. But subjugating 30,000,000 Moroccans isn't going to be easy."

"I'm confident you'll succeed in any task your put your mind to my prince."

He laughed at Jeremiah's words. "I don't need sycophants and flatterers, just capable officers." Lelouch turned away from the balcony. "Come. I want to go look at some maps."

 **BRITANNIAN MILITARY COMPOSITION**

 **2ND IMPERIAL ARMY**

 **~500,000 men divided into:**

 **10 corps of 50,000 each. Further breakdown into divisions, brigades, and battalions.**

 **~1000 Knightmare Frames divided into:**

 **Companies of 100 and units of 20.**

 **~6000 Armored trucks, artillery, infantry transports, supply vehicles, etc.**

 **Obviously the 500,000 infantry is divided into specialized divisions for things like engineering, sieges, assaults, marine actions, etc. The primary purpose of infantry in the Britannian military is for occupation. A single well piloted Knightmare can be worth a hundred infantry or more but a thousand knightmares are not going to be able to hold and police millions of square miles of territory. Whereas the Knightmares are the point of the spear that penetrates and actually defeats the enemy, the infantry are there to make sure they stay defeated.**

 **The primary difference between a Britannian army and a more primitive army is the replacement of tanks by Knightmare frames. Things like artillery are still very much present and necessary.**

 **There are air and naval forces attached to the 2nd Imperial Army, but they're separately engaged in Spain and the Mediterranean.**

 **It's all rough I know, I know. I'm not exactly a military buff so if anyone has any criticism please let me know.**

-  
 **A.N**

 **ChunkyFunkyMunky: Thanks! I definitely agree that a big part of Code Geass is Lelouch's 'love triangle' with CC/Kallen/Shirley. I do intend to eventually do a pairing, although I'm not too sure about what the pairing will be. I can confirm that it won't be incest, honestly I don't think it's in character for Lelouch, especially with Nunnally. I'll update the story characters once the plot gets to a point where there will be a pairing, but I don't think that'll happen for a couple thousand more words.**

 **reanseih: I'm glad that someone reads the history portions, I really enjoy writing them. The idea of making Han the ruling dynasty wasn't mine, I found it on the Wiki. Although it isn't confirmed in the show, there is a place in the Federation called the Mausoleum of 88 Emperors. That indicates that the current ruling dynasty has had 88 emperors which translates to over 2000 years if you assume each Emperor ruled for an average of 25 years. So Han is pretty much the only one that would fit from our real world dynasties. I definitely can't wait to expand more on the history of the Federation and I hope you enjoy what I've got.**


	5. Ambush

**_V: Ambush_**

 _War and Politics in the 21st Century by Albert Kennedy_

 _Sino-Britannian Relations_

" _One of the major flaws in Britannia's invasion of Japan was that it completely put a stop to any cooperation or reconciliation in the Pacific. Decision makers in the Forbidden City were outraged at Britannia's flagrant violation of its sphere of influence. What their contemporaries in Pendragon perceived as a massive success for the Britannian Empire, capturing half the world's Sakuradite certainly was, leaders in the Federation saw it as a complete disaster._

 _Japan had been content to sell its Sakuradite to all three superpowers, however preference was naturally given to the Chinese Federation which sat merely a pond away. Unlike sources in Alaska, Oregon, or Siberia, the Chinese Federation had no naturally occurring Sakuradite Ore in their vast territory. This meant they were entirely reliant on trade with Japan to ensure they could remain competitive._

 _Leaders in Pendragon cared very little for Chinese protests. After all they had just conquered Japan in a mere month with their Knightmare Frames. As a result the Federation suddenly had three full Imperial Armies in their backyard, completely poised to strike at the Chinese heartland with their advanced new weapons. Demands to abandon the island were ignored. Proposals to split occupation of Japan was refused. Requests to share Sakuradite mining rights with foreign companies were laughed at. In the end the Chinese were forced to swallow their bitter pill and accept the reality that they were a second rate superpower._

 _While the EU was able to quickly copy Britannian Knightmare technology and began mass producing it within a few years of the Second Pacific War, the Chinese were left with thousands of antiquated tanks and artillery pieces. Their navy was large, but lacked the Sakuradite powered engines that made European and Britannian vessels rocket through the seas. Their air force was formidable, but had little means of deploying itself when the Navy could so easily be dominated at sea._

 _The Gun-Ru's were researched and produced, but in very small quantities. Most of whatever little Sakuradite the Federation could squeeze out of Britannia or the EU went towards modernizing the navy, little could be spared to fuel third rate Knightmares._

 _Almost a decade of bullying from the two other superpowers followed the conquest of Japan, resulting in the Chinese being dubbed a 'fading' superpower. However much like their sudden reversal in fortune against Imperial Japan, the Chinese found similar luck in 2016 a.t.b._

 _During the First Atlantic War the Chinese were able to play middle man to the two superpowers. The Council of Forty in Paris had declared a complete trade embargo against its Atlantic neighbor and, as a result, that colossal volume of trade began flowing through the Chinese Federation. As we know from history, military opportunity often comes with economic opportunity._

 _If the Chinese stopped trade with either power and took the side of the other, then the war would be decided instantly. Massive shortages would occur and suddenly the civilian populace would begin seeking an end to the conflict. Its large, albeit traditional, ground forces could also decisively swing the war in North Africa. An invasion of Turkey would lead to complete disaster in the east for the EU, whereas Chinese reinforcements in Algeria and Egypt would end the campaign for the Britannians._

 _Leaders in the Forbidden City wisely used this temporary advantage to squeeze agonizing trade deals from both warring superpowers. Massive amounts of Sakuradite was forced to be handed over from Area Eleven and the Federation was now guaranteed 25% of all Sakuradite mined in . The EU was unwilling to split their already meagre Sakuradite resources and instead supplied the Federation with blueprints and scientists to help get their knightmare technology up to speed._

 _The year that followed saw the Chinese Federation's industry, the largest in the world, take on a war footing as thousands of Gun-Ru's were pumped out monthly. Immediately Knightmare production in China grew to eclipse production in Britannia and the EU, combined. Although its technology was still far behind, and its engineering was sub-par, the Federation had risen once more into a rival superpower with serious military muscle._

 _The effects of this would be revealed quickly as a newly confident Federation wasted no time in throwing around its weight in efforts to weaken Britannian and European presence in Asia…"_

 _Morocco - March 3rd, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - City of Tangier_

 **Lelouch vi Britannia** _\- Eleventh Prince, Seventeenth in line to the throne._

Lelouch let out a little sigh. The amount of delays that had happened were absolutely unacceptable. First they had discovered that a quarter of their tires were deflated. That was simple enough to fix, repumping them would only take a few hours. But as soon as that was done they had discovered that some of their rations were not suited for the heat and had spoiled. Emergency supplies had to be requested from Gibraltar because Lelouch absolutely refused to raid the locals. The _coup de grace_ was when, on the day they were meant to head out, half the officer staff had shown up to the final meeting drunk.

It was evident that they had expected a departure from the sort of discipline Cornelia expected among her troops. After all they were being led by a boy now, not the Witch of Britannia. He was just a 17 year old Britannian Prince. One likely accustomed to lavish Pendragon dinner parties and extravagant mansions filled with lovely women. The officers had independently determined that Lelouch's strict departure date was "more of a guideline really", and they could wait a day or two to fully enjoy the pleasures of Tangier.

Lelouch had put an end to such notions the second he calmed himself down. The offending officers were dressed down publicly and told, in very simple terms, that any further disobedience would be considered treason.

He didn't need to have the loving devotion that many of Cornelia's officers gave her. All he wanted were people that did their jobs and did them well. Those officers would have promptly found themselves sacked if not for the fact it would have resulted in yet another delay. Even still, their initial offense meant that he was forced to delay their departure another few hours. Wonderful.

"Are you alright my prince?" General Alwin's voice snapped Lelouch out of his irritated reminiscing.

The old general had suggested that they go and finalize their plans while the extra few hours of waiting occurred. So he found himself sitting with Alwin in one of the many extravagant rooms of the Governor's Mansion.

"I'm fine." Lelouch replied curtly as his focused returned to Alwin. The man's appearance reminded him quite a bit of Reuben Ashford. His mother's old benefactor, and the grandfather of one of Lelouch's playmates, was a blurry memory in his head but he had the feeling that Alwin looked similar.

The general's face was pale and wrinkled. His dirty blonde hair was cut short and professionally. He didn't wear any elegant or fancy military uniform adorned by gold trimmings and the insignia of a member of the Imperial Family. Instead it was a simple, traditional officer's uniform. Medals lined his chest and gave the impression of a long and accomplished career.

Lelouch wasn't sure what to make of him.

"Well what did you want to discuss General?"

Alwin reached over and grabbed a cup of tea far more firmly than a man as ancient as him should have been able. He took a sip before answering. "What are your general time tables your highness? I believe the plans you've suggested are all quite sound, but I would like to know what you expect out of the men."

"My timetables?" He paused a moment to think. "Well they've been set back a few days, but I expect to control Rabat by the end of the week. After that I'll evaluate things, but generally I want to avoid a long and costly campaign."

The general nodded. "That is wise. But don't be surprised if delays are frequent. I know from experience that campaigns in areas with poor geography like Morocco can go awry. Why I remember the Emperor's invasions of South America, ah well I suppose you know it as Area 6, but as I was saying…"

Lelouch discovered that the man shared another trait with Reuben Ashford that he remembered quite clearly, his tendency to ramble. However the impatient Prince had nothing better to do and to hear a recount of Emperor Charles' famous subjugation of Area 6 was quite interesting. So he settled into his pleasant cup of tea and listened to the tale.

"...And so you see, the Chileans fled to the mountains once they reali-"

The door was knocked on quite suddenly, interrupting the general. He was startled and almost jumped in his seat as he was snapped out of his memories. He looked around for a moment as if coming out of a trance and turned to Lelouch with an apologetic smile. "Good heavens, how long has it been? You must excuse me my prince, I have a tendency to get lost in my stories. Please feel free to interrupt me in the future, I wouldn't want to talk you to death."

Lelouch gave the man an easygoing smile and shook his head. "It's fine. It was all fascinating actually, I didn't mind."

He turned to the door after dealing with Alwin. "Come in."

A young woman in uniform came in and looked around, spotting the two of them. She gave them both a salute before kneeling down before Lelouch. "Your highness. You have someone requesting to speak to you."

Lelouch frowned. He really needed to get a secretary. He was pretty sure he could get Monica or Jeremiah to do it, but he would feel bad about forcing them into such menial tasks. "Who is it?" He hadn't been expecting any visitors.

"Prince Schneizel el Britannia your highness."

Lelouch recoiled slightly in surprise. _Schneizel?_ That had to have been the last person he expected. He stood up immediately and turned to Alwin. "Please excuse me, this seems important. I'd like to hear more once I return if that's alright with you."

The man waved Lelouch off and nodded vigorously. "Of course! I'd be glad to." It seemed as though he quite enjoyed recounting his exploits. Lelouch figured he'd do the same if he had as many as General Alwin did.

He turned back towards the woman. "Let's go."

She stood up and nodded. "I've set up a screen in a nearby room, I assumed you would want privacy."

"Good. What's your name by the way?"

"Lieutenant Ashley Rodgers your highness." She saluted him again, making Lelouch sigh internally. Had he mentioned his hatred of the excessive respect he was given?

"In the future, you don't need to kneel. A salute is enough Lieutenant."

She flushed slightly and bowed her head. "My apologies… Please follow me."

His eyes narrowed in irritation as she turned and began walking. Was it really that mortifying to be told you can be less respectful? It was like he couldn't talk to any of his soldiers without them struggling to breathe.

That was one of the reasons he liked Monica so much. She didn't fall over herself to kiss his ass or acknowledge his title. Not to mention she was the best pilot he had ever seen.

He shook his head slightly and cleared his thoughts. He was getting distracted, and perhaps feeling a bit anxious. Schneizel had played an integral role in retrieving Lelouch from Japan, but aside from that he had little contact with his powerful elder brother. He played chess against him the rare times they were both present in Pendragon, Schneizel to report to the Emperor, him to see Nunnally. However it didn't take a genius to see why the Prime Minister was contacting him now. Lelouch vi Britannia, acting general for half of an Imperial Army.

The room was only a few feet away and after being ushered inside the door was closed behind him as the woman left to provide him some privacy.

"Greetings Lelouch."

The deep, rich, cultured voice of Schneizel resonated from the computer screen and filled the closed room. Lelouch sat down in a chair that had been placed in front of it and crossed his arms before immediately getting to the point. "Hello. What do you want?"

Schneizel laughed on the screen and leaned back into what seemed like a rather comfortable chair. He was sitting in front of a window and Lelouch noted that it was growing dark outside, compared to the bright sun shining down in Morocco. The Chinese Federation perhaps? He knew that there was a lot of backroom dealings going on to prevent an intervention in the war.

"Straight to the point Lelouch? I wish the diplomats I dealt with on a daily basis were like you."

"Diplomats in the Chinese Federation?" Lelouch shot the question at his brother whilst tapping his finger on the rich mahogany that the computer rested on.

Schneizel smiled at him. "Yes." He looked past the screen suddenly and his smile morphed into a serious look. After a few moments he turned back towards Lelouch. "They're being very difficult. If I drop my guard then I'm afraid that I'll hand over half the Empire to keep the High Eunuchs away from the fight."

"It seems as though you've done a decent job thus far. I don't recall our scouts seeing any _Gun-Ru's_ recently."

"Yes, yes. But we're getting off track. I didn't call you to hear praise, Kanon provides enough as it is." Lelouch was pretty sure he heard a short bout of laughter off screen at that point. "I called to congratulate you on your 'promotion.'"

"To colonel? I didn't expect to hear from the Prime Minister of Britannia about it." Lelouch gave Schneizel a slight smile. He could play this game too.

"Of course, but you're my brother Lelouch. I have more than enough time to congratulate the good fortunes of my siblings. However, I was speaking about your other, more recent, promotion."

"I see." Lelouch answered neutrally.

"It's caused quite a stir in the Capital. Even some of the senior general staff were unsure about Cornelia's decision to grant you what is essentially Imperium in North Africa. Of course she wouldn't entertain any sort of dissent from that group of old men, or so I've heard."

"Trust me, I was as surprised as anyone else. Cornelia certainly didn't talk to me about it beforehand."

"Yes, our sister is rather headstrong isn't she? I suppose it's that single minded drive towards the objective that's made her so successful on the battlefield." Schneizel gave a smile, a different one this time. This smile was colder, more calculated, although not malicious. It left Lelouch doubting whether his words about Cornelia were a compliment.

"I agree." Lelouch decided it would be best to stick to non-commital answers before Schneizel revealed what he really wanted.

"I do have a point of course. You need to understand your position. Cornelia, intentionally or not, has thrust you into the spotlight of the Imperial Court. A mistake that may have been afforded to other young princes in charge of Imperial forces will not be afforded to you."

Schneizel dropped his smile as his voice went from warm and jovial, to serious and focused. "A failure would result in you becoming persona non grata despite your title, a mixed success would leave them unsatisfied, only a complete victory will satisfy the vultures in the court. Even with that victory, you and I both know full well just how fickle the court can be with its favorites."

"I'm well aware of the pressures on me. Although what the court thinks of me is the least of those pressures."

"That is unwise Lelouch. Omnipotent and all powerful our father may be," Schneizel stopped and let out a short chuckle, "he still must rely on the court for day to day running of the empire. Most of the powerful bureaucrats, governors, and generals of the empire are members of families represented in the court. Being in their favor will aid whatever ambitions you may have."

Lelouch had mixed feelings about the advice. The Imperial Court ranked near the bottom on the list of things Lelouch had respect for. Even before his mother's assassination those bloodsuckers were waiting for any chance to pounce on the commoners who had polluted the royal bloodline. After his exile to Japan, Lelouch and his sister were dead as far as they were concerned. Even after their return, the nobles of the court still viewed him with thinly veiled contempt and disrespect.

But he couldn't deny that Schneizel was right in how the court had to be handled. "And why tell me this? Out of the goodness in your heart brother?"

"Perhaps. You should be aware that I have no intention to trample on my younger siblings to reach the throne."

Lelouch gave him a wry smile. "And Odysseus?"

Schneizel smiled back at him, perhaps pleased that Lelouch had caught the intentional slip. "A kind and wonderful elder brother. The exact sort that I hope to be to you. Now, I know you must be busy, I'll leave you with some final words. Good luck in the Moroccan campaign. Please contact me if you ever need anything." Schneizel provided him with details to his personal line before cutting the connection.

Lelouch leaned back into his seat as he pondered the conversation.

 _What is he after?_

 _Morocco - March 8th, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - 30 miles from Rabat_

 _ **Monica Krushevsky**_

An eerie feeling crept over her as she proceeded her knightmare towards the town. The lights were on in many of the buildings in the small settlement, as one would expect during the night, however no people could be seen out on the street.

Something wasn't right.

"Proceed with caution." Monica's voice travelled to the 20 other members of Invictus Unit that were accompanying her.

The road they were travelling on was thankfully not destroyed like most had been in the campaign thus far. It established the boundary between two of the large farms that fed the town and Morocco as a whole. Large piles of what was either hay, grass, or some other kind of grain that she couldn't really make out in the dark, dotted the farmland.

That left her hopeful that the Moroccan forces had missed this town. Most of the farms they had passed by so far had been stripped clean of supplies and produce, leading to a severe shortage. Lelouch had ordered some of their excess supplies to be given to keep the population of Tangier and the other captured cities fed, but it wouldn't be enough. She'd have to go and check the farms once the town had been secured.

As she finally neared the first house she stopped besides it and peered through the window into the lit room. It looked fairly standard and unusual, however not a single person could be seen or heard from inside of it.

Frowning she proceeded past the building. A member of her unit flanked her while she directed the others to fan out and search the streets and neighborhoods in the small town. She continued looking around for the next few minutes but found nothing but abandoned houses and empty streets.

"Anyone else find anything?"

All of her subordinates answered back in the negative. This really was _odd._ Almost all of the towns and cities they had encountered so far had been bustling and full. She couldn't understand why this particular one would be abandoned, especially if the food had been left behind. If the people had fled then surely they would have taken all that produce with them?

"Okay. Everyone sit tight until infantry gets here. Invictus 5 and 6, I want you to go and check out the farms. I spotted a lot of piles of what I think might be grain, it could be what we need."

Everything seemed calm, even if the situation was a little weird. She was tempted to lean back and relax while they waited for the 39th Charleston boys to catch up, however she couldn't shake her feeling of unease. They should be arriving in less than half an hour, and then they could actually search the houses properly for inhabitants. That would calm her worries.

"Hey Major, I'm no farmer but, are piles of hay supposed to move?" The odd question came from Invictus 6.

"What? What are you talking abou-"

 **BOOM!**

The explosion cut her off and suddenly the dark farmland surrounding the town lit up with a fiery explosion. A piercing _beep_ notified Monica that Invictus 6's IFF signal had just been lost.

"I-5?" She spoke frantically into her communicator. "What's going on, what do you see?"

"We're being hit! Six is down!" I-5's response didn't answer many of her questions and so she pressed him again.

"What's going on?"

Time suddenly seemed to slow down as she detected movement in the periphery of her vision. A dark figure from the building besides her was aiming something. The projectile moved too fast for her to do anything but watch it travel whilst she was paralyzed. Her mind casually supplied the information to her consciousness that she was in fact staring at a rocket launcher, one that had just fired towards her. In an instant she saw her life flash before her eyes. In the next, fire.

 **BOOM!**

The knightmare besides her went up in flames as the direct RPG hit completely annihilated the cockpit of the machine and turned it into a hunk of molten metal.

 _Beep_ 's came in rapid succession as the IFF signals of her unit began to drop like flies. She saw the man in the window, partially obscured by the black smoke spewing from her comrade's machine, trying to rearm his launcher. Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she suddenly regained control over her body.

Her _Sutherland_ turned around and pointed its gun right at the window the man was looking out from. He tried to drop his weapon and duck away but it was too slow. A quick succession of bullets dropped the man, dead, onto the floor.

She moved away from the building and began racing through the streets of the suddenly hellish looking town. The yellow lightning that had seemed so calm and peaceful before had suddenly turned into fires that engulfed burning Knightmare frames. There was some chatter occurring over the channel but Monica didn't pay attention to it, there was no time, they all knew what this was.

Ambush.

She headed towards the outskirts of the town without encountering any more Moroccan infantry hidden in the buildings, not living ones anyway. Once she had a line of sight past the buildings, what was going on become painfully obvious.

Two destroyed Knightmare frames were present on the farmland, I-5, and I-6, however the piles of grain and hay were suddenly gone. Or, more accurately, they were moving. Half a dozen tanks with pounds of hay on top were suddenly prowling through the darkness, approaching the town. A shell raced past her machine, far too fast to react to, and annihilated a house behind her.

Realizing her vulnerability, Monica raced back inside of the town where the enemies would not have a line of sight on her. Shells began to fall on the town in rapid succession from the tanks on the outside. Every few seconds a house or a road would explode into splinters and flames. Realizing that they needed coordination, Monica began speaking to what was left of her unit.

"Tanks on the farms! All surviving pilots are to head there immediately!" She barked out her orders rapidly and proceeded back towards the farms again herself.

As she raced out towards the camouflaged tanks she cursed at the relatively brighter colors of her _Sutherland_. Even an outdated _Glasgow_ would have been preferable, what with its dark earthy tones. Still, there was no point thinking about 'what ifs' now, not if she wanted to survive.

Monica slowly counted down inside of her head once the enemy tanks spotted her. _Half a second to notice me… Ten seconds to turn… Fifteen seconds to reload… Five seconds to fire..._

As soon as her mental countdown hit zero and all the checkboxes were ticked, she swerved her machine harshly to the left. Two explosions to her right immediately kicked up a storm of dirt and dust. She raced past it and within moments was on top of the tanks. Two missiles raced from her _Sutherland_ 's shoulders and eliminated an equal number of the tanks.

Monica took full advantage of her machine's superior mobility as she displayed why the outdated tanks had been replaced by Knightmare frames. Her landspinners sped along the smooth dirt and she quickly outmaneuvered the desperately turning machines. As the _Sutherland_ 's missiles reloaded she opened fire once again, pumping two explosions into the backside of one of the enemy armor.

Three allied knightmares shot past the buildings and began racing towards the remaining three tanks. Out of the three only a single tank was in position to respond, as the other two were caught trying to turn and face Monica's machine. A solitary shell shot out and caught one of the Knightmares directly in the torso, instantly killing the pilot.

There was no chance to avenge her fallen ally as one of the two tanks finished turning towards her. Her machine raced forwards, as the missiles were not yet ready, and two Stun Tonfas deployed from her elbows. Having no means to avoid the shot, or destroy the tank beforehand, she jabbed the thick metal rod into the barrel of the Tank's main gun.

 **BOOM!**

The lights in her cockpit briefly turned red as she was shaken badly. Nothing could be heard as a ringing sound dominated her ears. When she was finally able to take stock of the situation she realized that one of her _Sutherland's_ arms had been blown off entirely and the screen was flashing dangerous **WARNING** messages.

Luckily the explosion was mainly contained inside of the tank, whose inhabitants were completely destroyed by the shell. She was sure if she squinted hard enough she'd be able to make out little bits and pieces of gory body parts.

Of course there was no desire to do anything of the sort. Instead she took stock of her situation and realized the remaining two tanks had been dealt with by her allies. But the continued gunfire and explosions she was beginning to hear again informed her that the battle was not yet over.

 _Well… My other arm's still good…_

With that she readied her machine and raced back towards the action.

 _Morocco - March 8th, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - Camp_

 _ **Monica Krushevsky**_

She rested her weary head against the cool, comforting, and familiar walls of the Mobile Base. The fighting had gone on for almost half an hour and only stopped with the arrival of the 39th Brigade, who cleaned things up quite easily.

She was tired, hungry, and most of all ashamed. Invictus Unit which had so recently lost half of its members suddenly found itself undermanned once again.

All thanks to her.

14 of the Knightmares had been destroyed and only 5 of the pilots had managed to eject thanks to indirect hits which didn't annihilate them instantly.

Sighing she closed her eyes in a futile attempt to relax her mind. The truth was that there was no way she could ever forget. I-3, Jonathan Bronson, that was the name of the man who had perished from the RPG. It very easily could have been her instead, the choice of target by the man in the window was completely arbitrary and random. A flip of a coin, that's all it was.

"Come in." Her eyes opened and she sluggishly got up from her seat and approached the door. Pulling it open she saw it was empty of anyone else except for Lelouch.

Immediately a pit of apprehension began growing in her stomach.

"Long day?" Lelouch gave her a smile, but it was marred by the dark bags under his eyes. It was evident that his day wasn't going so well either.

 _Having some idiot underling lose 14 Knightmares would do that…_

She could only nod meekly and sit down to a spot the Prince gestured towards.

"I don't intend to keep you for long. I've read through your report, but I'd like to hear it from your mouth." His words and voice only served to deepen her embarrassment. But she forced out her story.

"Well… We spread out through the town like protocol and looked for any civilians. We didn't find any and so I told everyone to wait for the Infantry to catch up so they could search the buildings… I'm really, really, really sor-"

Lelouch held up a hand to silence her and she quickly shut her mouth, blushing at the little display of unprofessionalism.

"And the attack?" His voice was even and his face was neutral, giving her no idea as to what he was thinking. She'd never told him but he was an extremely intimidating person sometimes. Just his focus and attention made her wriggle in her seat and play with the hem of her uniform.

"They had hidden tanks out on the farmland, as well as some foot troops inside of the buildings… I was caught off guard initially but I ordered the survivors to attack the tanks once I realized what was going on."

Her commander nodded in front of her silently.

"Um… It continued for a while until the reinforcements arrived. There were more than a dozen tanks and several dozen infantry hidden inside of the barns and warehouses. They tried to corral us into the town and destroy us."

"I see." He nodded again.

She squirmed in her chair, ducking her gaze from his piercing purple eyes and instead stared down at the ground. It was pathetic to revert to such schoolgirl manners, but if there was one thing she hated it was disappointing people that counted on her. What had she told him? That she and Jeremiah would be there to help him carry out the subjugation of Morocco? _Yeah right…_

"Monica." Lelouch's voice had a tone of exasperation that made her finally look back up at him. "Calm down. It's not really your fault."

"But it is!" Her quick retort was probably more indignant than was proper when speaking to royalty but she refused to be let off the hook thanks to favoritism. "I should have known that there was something off. I should have sent men to check out the piles first thing. I should have-"

"And I shouldn't have pushed the Knightmare units to blitz through the country capturing cities and towns. I should have been slower, more methodical, and allowed the Infantry to handle securing these objectives."

"But-" She tried to speak but was cut off by Lelouch's finger being placed on her lips.

"I intend to learn from my mistakes, and I'm sure you'll learn from yours. They've been planning things like this to thin us out before we reach the capital in Rabat. It was only a matter of time before we took a big hit." He stood up from where he was sitting in front of her and moved over to a table with various piles of documents and maps laid out on it.

"We're not going as fast as I thought we would, but that was foolish for me to assume ideal conditions. However," his voice suddenly took on a very pleased tone, "Things might actually be working in our favor."

"Our favor? What do you mean?" She wasn't sure how taking hits to their limited Knightmare supply could be favorable to them.

"Come over here."

She obliged and looked at a map that Lelouch was pointing at. It depicted the nation of Morocco along with its claimed territories in the Western Sahara. Various shades of green and red dominated the map. The green was focused entirely in the north western, coastal part of the country. The red was everywhere else, particularly bright in the Sahara.

"I suspect this is simply the first town that we're going to find abandoned. The refugees have no place to go but Rabat. This map shows the arable land in this country, in other words where the food is grown." The prince circled his index finger around the green blob in the northwest before tapping on where Rabat would be located.

Suddenly it felt like a lightning bolt had flashed in her mind as the plan suddenly clicked. "Wait, does that mean…?"

Lelouch nodded and smiled. "Yes. Let the refugees swell Rabat's population. Let them travel further south. Soon enough we can have most of Morocco's arable land under our control and once that happens we won't need to bother conquering the remaining 3/4ths of the country. They'll submit or they'll starve."

He looked away from the map and back at her. "So cheer up, things are going fine. I'm just glad that you're unharmed after the attack." He turned eyes towards the large black dot that indicated the Capital city of Rabat and smirked. "I can't have my Ace getting hurt before the real battles begin."

 **Thanks for reading, this is a long one. I'm trying to strike a balance with combat/non-combat scenes in the story as I don't want this to just completely be one battle after another. Although some big ones are probably coming up soon.**

 **Doommajor: Thanks! Yeah I agree the world of Code Geass was left a little blank in the show, but that just makes it all the more fun to fill in the gaps with fan-ideas and theories.**

 **Prodigal Knight: I may have phrased it wrong but I intended to mean that it isn't confirmed which dynasty has ruled China for 2200+ years. The 88 emperors bit tells us that there's been a single unbroken dynasty since the time of the Han, which is why I figured it was them. I definitely want to make Monica a more fleshed out character than she was in the show. I honestly don't know what the pairing will be, it really is too early for me to do anything without it seeming forced and unnatural. I agree that Lelouch is going to be a different person because his upbringing and backstory has changed a bit. I'll probably include some more detailed information about what exactly happened in a future chapter. Thanks for the review, I really appreciate long and thought out ones like these.**

 **Dougcupcake: Thanks, and only time will tell ;)**

 **Mr. Q: Jeremiah is one of the most awesome/badass/cool characters in all of anime. I absolute loved seeing his downfall into this pathetic/joke character and then seeing him rise like a phoenix to eventually come to serve Lelouch. Also his fight with Anya, 'nuff said.**

 **Darth Lelouch: Thanks. I really hope that once Season 3 comes out we can get a big resurgence in the Fanfic community for Code Geass.**

 **The Rupture: Thanks, I will.**


	6. Rabat

**VI:** **Rabat**

 _War and Politics in the 21st Century_ by Albert Kennedy

 _First Atlantic War_

 _The Moroccan Campaign_

" _Morocco served as the ideal entry point into the European heartland from the point of view of the Britannians. Spain and Portugal were far too heavily defended and possessed large, modern national armies. Also, an invasion of Iberia would necessitate the capture of the heavily populated Catalan coast if the Britannians wanted useful ports inside the Mediterranean. This was deemed, for now, far too difficult to accomplish._

 _The central theatre of the war was therefore decided to be North Africa. Incursions were made into Spain, although Imperial forces mainly stuck to Gibraltar, and invasions were made into South Africa. However all these were merely sideshows compared to North Africa. Successful occupation of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, etc, would lead to a solid Britannian foothold inside of the Mediterranean. The ocean which had been ruled by Europeans for centuries would suddenly need to be fought over._

 _Considering all of these factors, and how vital controlling Morocco would be towards controlling all of North Africa, Princess Cornelia's decision to appoint her younger brother in charge of the campaign was certainly peculiar. Nepotism was blatant in Britannian society, especially the military, however something so vital was rarely given to someone so young and inexperienced._

 _Prince Lelouch vi Britannia was merely a colonel, a rank he attained days after the battle of Tangier mind you, and had never led anything besides a small Unit of 20 Knightmares. However while the Moroccans were breathing a sigh of relief at the foolish decision, Prince Lelouch would quickly prove himself a prodigy in matters of war._

 _He achieved victories early on in the campaign and his wise domestic policies were essential in reducing Moroccan resistance to occupation. But the true test of his abilities would come when he faced off against a much more experienced and accomplished general in Salazar, one who had already crushed an Imperial Army."_

 **Lelouch vi Britannia** _\- Eleventh Prince, Seventeenth in line to the throne._

The darkening skies above Rabat flared to life with the thunder of guns. _VTOL Gunships_ flying above the Moroccan lines found themselves being picked off by the unending barrage of the anti-air. Missiles launched from SAM systems located inside of Rabat flew at speeds up to 3500 miles per hour, far too fast to be dodged. Even advanced Britannian military technology seemed flimsy when faced with such a deadly and proven weapon of war. Explosions lit up the sky above the city like a particularly intense Pendragon fireworks show on Darwin day.

"Sire, the air raid is taking heavy losses! They have much more firepower than was estimated, should we pull back?" The man directing the air assault spoke urgently as he turned away from his tactical monitor and towards the Prince.

Lelouch shook his head. "No. We need to thin them out for our infantry. Have the gunships open fire on any soldier, tank, or artillery piece in sight. Equal priority to all targets." The casualties were regrettable, but the _Gunships_ were not as irreplaceable as, say, a _Sutherland_.

The man nodded and turned back to relay his orders. Hundreds of the _Gunships_ were still in the air and more than prepared to retaliate.

The punishment inflicted by the Moroccan ground forces was repaid in full as the _VTOL Gunships_ began spraying down streams of bullets and missiles down towards the defenders. Unmoving tanks made for easy and juicy targets for the _Gunships_. Some of the planes even managed to get close enough to unleash their missiles into the city, where they destroyed several of the unprotected SAM systems.

"Alwin, what's the status of the infantry?" As he spoke the man looked away from the tactical screen and up towards where Lelouch was sitting.

"Ready to engage your highness."

He smiled and nodded. "Proceed with the strategy then, make sure to remind the Knightmare units not to move from their positions even a single inch. No exceptions."

Within moments Lelouch saw the vibrant blue that depicted his ground forces begin to press into the line of red that represented the Moroccans. Ten full Knightmare units were positioned a mile back towards the flanks, far away from any of the combat.

 **Captain Lionel Richard**

"The orders' been given! Move in! Go! Go!" The roughly 200 men he had in his Company rushed forwards immediately. They made their way around the rock formations they had been hidden behind and got their first real sight of the Moroccan positions.

Piled up mud and sand formed an earth wall to defend the Moroccan infantry. Tanks and heavy gun crews were hidden behind hastily made, sandstone pill boxes spaced every 50 feet along the line. A few holes and openings were visible and marked where the _VTOL Gunships_ had landed their missiles.

The Moroccans had picked the field in front of Rabat clean of any large rocks or structures that could provide any sort of cover for the advancing Britannian infantry. As the first round of fire came their way and dropped a dozen of his men, he knew this wouldn't be easy.

Dust kicked up in front of his platoon as a tank shell missed its mark. He raced through the billowing brown clouds and sprayed his clip towards the defenders. "Don't stop! Keep moving!" He had to yell at the top of his lungs to ensure his men could hear him through the gunfire that was now dominating the entire field.

"Third and fourth squads provide covering fire! Don't let these bastards so much as take a peek over their walls!" The corresponding soldiers went down on one knee as they aimed their rifle at anything that looked like a Moroccan. The gunfire momentarily stalled as the suppressing fire made the enemy wary of exposing themselves to the crack Britannian troops.

To his left and right Lionel could see thousands of his brothers in arms rush forwards in an attempt to reach the fortifications. A squad was vaporized in front of his eyes as a perfectly placed shell turned them into a fine mist. No matter how much suppressing fire they laid down, the lack of cover put them at a serious disadvantage.

The Moroccans his company was facing off against seemed to grow a bit bolder a few minutes in and resumed their gunfire. With every Britannian that dropped their morale seemed to grow higher and soon enough they were back where they started. Out in the open, rushing forwards into certain death. He could see that his company was going to evaporate at this rate, and so when a few shells kicked up a particularly large dust cloud he gave the only order he could.

"Drop! Drop! Get on the ground!" His men took up the words and began shouting it to all of his remaining forces to ensure everyone got the message. Once they were all on the ground the bullets began passing harmlessly over them. However this would only last as long as the quickly dissipating dust cloud did.

Looking behind him he could see Medical Teams struggling to get close enough to provide any sort of aid to the fallen soldiers. The constant gunfire and deluge of casualties made their jobs almost impossible to do.

Lionel knew that his men were not going to be able to reach the walls before they were all picked off.

 **Lelouch vi Britannia**

"We're having difficulty in reaching them sir. They're too well protected by their fortifications." The staff officer informed Lelouch in a concerned tone. "We can't sustain this rate of casualties. The second division is already down to half strength, our forces in the east are crumbling."

Lelouch watched as entire platoons were consumed by the enemy's gunfire. The officer was correct, they couldn't keep taking losses like this. He had hoped to avoid using _it_ but he supposed he had no other choice. It seemed that old proverb was correct, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Sighing he turned towards the man that had spoken. "Send in the armor. All of it. They are to provide cover fire for our infantry, priority on the Pillboxes."

While Knightmares had mostly made tanks obsolete, there were still several uses for them in the battlefield. They were much cheaper to produce than Knightmare frames and didn't use expensive Sakuradite as a fuel source. It was clear that infantry alone would not be able to penetrate the Moroccan defenses.

"Yes sir!"

He turned his gaze towards the 200 Knightmare frames he had sitting on the sidelines, that would be the key. As long as the tasks at hand were cleared and the plan was allowed to progress, victory would be assured.

 **Lionel Richard**

Just when the dust finished dissipating and he braced himself to rush back towards the hail of bullets, something wonderful happened. Dozens of tanks raced forwards towards the Moroccan positions and began laying down devastating cover fire. He watched with satisfaction as a shell eliminated a particularly annoying Pillbox that had been laying waste to his Company.

"This is our chance boys! Get the hell up and show 'em what we're made of!" He jumped up and waved his arm forwards towards the suddenly disarrayed defenders.

The men all rallied forwards and they began to press forwards once more. Their own fortifications would made it hard for them to effectively deploy their armor. This made the defenders sitting ducks for Britannian tanks and infantry.

The barrage of shells coming from the allied tanks rendered the Moroccans impotent against the wave of men rushing at them. Men rushed away from their posts in the face of a 60 ton war machine. The enemy's heavy weaponry was now focused on the much more dangerous threat of the Britannian armor, making advancing easy for Lionel's Company.

He jumped over an earthen wall along with dozens of his troops and began cleaning up the Moroccan defenders. An infantryman turned the corner and opened fire on him, however his nerves got the better of him as he missed every shot. Having felt the bullets whizz past him, Lionel turned and shot the man full of lead instantly. Some of the men besides them fell down to the ground and raised their arms in surrender. They were shot.

He had no time to take prisoners.

"Down, down!" A cry came from one of his men and he felt himself get shoved down onto the dirt. A wave of machine gun fire passed over his head and mowed down half a dozen who hadn't heard. He nodded gratefully to the soldier who had just saved his life. "Richardson! You and your men come with me, rest of you finish cleaning out the infantry!"

The machine gun sustained its fire for a couple more seconds before it went silent. Knowing that it was in the process of reloading, he rushed forwards towards the fortification. Richardson's squad had been cut down in half to only 5 soldiers, but they flanked him as he advanced.

The path towards the pillbox was mostly empty, the ground littered with dead or dying Moroccans. An unlucky soldier unwittingly ran into them and was immediately shot by Richardson before he could even raise his gun.

He and the men crouched down behind the earthen wall, just a few feet away from the pillbox. They were just out of its field of view. His hand went towards his belt where he pulled the pin off of a grenade. The carefully aimed throw saw the projectile curve down and fall right inside of the small slit in the Pillbox. A second later and...

 **BOOM!**

The hastily made pillbox fell apart from the explosion, killing the gun crew inside.

"Alright, let's get ba-"

"Tanks!" Richardson cut him off and pointed ahead of them.

The retreating Moroccan infantry enabled the enemy armor to move forwards and attempt to repel the Britannian assault. Lionel could see dozens moving forwards towards where the first few Companies had breached the defenses. They would be upon them in less than a minute.

"Fall back! Back over the wall!"

The moment he made it over the earth wall, an explosion behind him threw him on the ground.

The world went black.

 **Lelouch vi Britannia**

"Tanks!"

"So they've finally deployed their armor have they? How many do we see?"

"Th-three hundred based on initial sightings!" The officer's voice had a hint of incredulity about it.

"That has to be almost all of their armor... This is it then, your highness." Alwin turned towards him with a calm look on his face. "Shall we sound the retreat?"

Lelouch nodded. "Have the infantry fall back towards the designated positions. I want the _Gunships_ to return as well, but have them provide covering fire for the Infantry while they retreat."

As the minutes passed Lelouch saw the massive swarm of red on the tactical display push back his infantry. The few thousand who had so recently captured the walls were suddenly forced to abandon them in retreat. The enemy counter-attack had no mercy as they began unleashing their fury into the backs of his infantry.

"They're very eager for this victory aren't they?" Lelouch mused to himself.

"As you expected eh? Even the infantry are all rushing out of their fortifications to join in the fray." Alwin's eyes were locked on the display as he watched the enemy tanks break formation to chase the retreating Britannians.

"All the better for us then." Lelouch couldn't help but smirk.

 **Monica Krushevsky**

It was eerie.

For half an hour she had been sitting in her lifeless _Sutherland_. Lelouch had ordered them to maintain complete radio silence and to not even turn on their machines until he gave the command.

They had prepared this point extensively prior to the battle. Foliage, rocks, even trees were uprooted and moved to provide as much cover to the hidden Knightmares as possible. Lelouch had waited until the winds were blowing northwards, ensuring that the dust kicked up by the battle would move towards where the Knightmares were hidden. Every possible consideration had been made. He had even listened to her advice and repainted the Knightmares with a brown, earthy color reminiscent of a _Glasgow._

From inside of her dark cockpit Monica could see dozens of knightmares surrounding her. She suspected all of the other pilots felt the same anticipation and anxiousness that she did. The sounds of battle just a mile away were extremely tempting to her, but she didn't dare break formation and risk the entire battle strategy. If something went wrong here then every man that died in the first assault would have their deaths be meaningless.

It saddened her to know that thousands of infantry were dieing for the sole purpose to act as a decoy for the real strike. But it was war, she supposed, and Lelouch wouldn't have done it unless it was the best way to achieve victory.

Suddenly the radio, still functional without power, came alive in her cockpit.

"All Knightmare Units are to power on, wait for further orders before engaging." The Prince's voice came through the radios of every gathered machine.

The night came alive with the humming sound of two hundred Yggdrasil drives powering on simultaneously. She rushed ahead with entering her verification information and quickly examined her Knightmare's factspheres to get a better visual on what was happening.

She could see waves of tanks rushing past them, only a few hundred feet away. A massive cloud of dust was kicked up by the moving tank treads, unknowingly helping to conceal their ambushers. Her map lit up with the IFF signals of powering up Knightmare Frames and the ones on the other side of the enemy quickly became visible. She also noticed thousands of enemy Infantry rushing in to catch up to the tanks, however they would be no threat to an armored Knightmare pilot.

The seconds after they were ordered to turn on seemed to pass by at a snail's pace. The enemy had surely spotted them the moment their machines were turned on, they needed to act _now_. Her heartbeat increased dramatically as the anticipation of the battle became agonizing. But knowing the prince he was probably waiting for what was mathematically the most optimal time to engage. She put her faith in him and waited for orders.

After a lengthy minute she finally received them. "Engage the enemy and initiate the encirclement."

The radio came to life as unit commanders began shouting orders to their men. Monica wasted no time in doing the same to the hastily rebuilt Invictus Unit, and soon enough they were moving forwards to begin the assault.

The Moroccan armor had no chance.

Monica charged in and punched a hole in the vanguard of the enemy tanks. They had no time to turn and retaliate as her allies launched dozens of missiles that made quick work of the suddenly trapped enemy armor.

A general panic seemed to erupt across the Moroccan forces as they found themselves being pressed in from two sides by the Britannian Knightmare Units. The retreating infantry suddenly took up positions in prebuilt fortifications and began to open fire on the tanks from the front. This left only the rear as a possible escape for the enemy armor.

However the tanks would find no way out, Monica made sure of that. She and Invictus Unit tore apart the vanguard before they had a chance to return any fire. With each unmoving, burning, metallic husk, the tanks found another obstacle in the way of their escape. Soon enough the way out was completely closed off by the corpses of the enemy armor.

"We've done our jobs, leave the encirclement to the others. We need to go and make sure their infantry don't break them out, Invictus on me!" She shouted her orders and her men quickly complied.

They turned away from the trapped foes and instead turned to the panicked Infantry who had just witnessed the ambush.

It wasn't even a fight as their low caliber bullets hardly left a scratch on the protective armor of her Knightmare Frame. They had become lambs coming to the slaughter as Monica mowed down entire platoons with her chest-mounted machine gun. In no time at all the Infantry began to break and run, mirroring the earlier retreat of the Britannians.

 **Lelouch vi Britannia**

He couldn't help but grin as everything fell into place. Monica and the other Unit commanders did their jobs perfectly and the pursuing enemy forces suddenly found themselves surrounded and cut off from their main body. 300 tanks trapped within minutes.

It was absolutely glorious.

The other members of the officer staff clearly thought the same as they broke out into cheers and hoorays once it was clear that the plan had succeeded.

"It's worked out far better than anyone could have expected, your highness. What do you suggest we do now?" Alwin's question didn't require much thought on Lelouch's part. He had already decided what he wanted to do once the tanks were captured. He had briefly considered demanding their surrender and then commandeering the captured tanks, but decided that would be too tricky to pull off. The mass of tanks could cause serious damage to his limited Knightmare forces if they had the time to aim their guns and fire. Besides, it wouldn't send the right message.

"Destroy them." Lelouch wanted the Moroccans to know that he was not playing around. Hopefully the destruction of their entire Armor Corps would psychologically scar the nation's leadership and push them towards surrender.

"And for the infantry your highness?"

"Having POW's could be useful." Lelouch considered the idea for a moment before nodding. "If they surrender, they are to be captured peacefully and transported behind our lines. Mow down the rest. The fewer that escape, the less resistance we'll face inside of Rabat and in the future."

He watched the tactical screen with endless satisfaction as the mass of red grew smaller and smaller. The tanks were crowded into a shrinking pocket, movement blocked by their own allies, and a combination of Knightmare Frames and the remaining _Gunships_ easily tore them to pieces.

Thousands of Moroccan infantry had foolishly rushed past their fortifications to assist the tanks in what they thought was a total rout of Britannia, however none of them would manage to make it back to their defenses. They all lay dead or captured on the battlefield, completely outmaneuvered by the superior Britannian Knightmare Frames.

It was a total victory.

Yet, while Rabat was as good as his, he knew this would not be the end of Moroccan resistance. The primary concern with the subjugation of a country like Morocco wasn't whether or not its armies could be beaten in the field, they could as had been proven, but whether the domestic population would remain docile.

A guerilla war was the last thing Lelouch wanted to deal with. That was why it was utterly imperative that as many of the troops were killed or captured as possible. It was why this plan was necessary to ensure the Moroccan armored contingent couldn't fade away into the desert to act as a resist Lelouch's forces later down the line.

He had studied Britannian military campaigns in preparation for the planning of his own. Even the conquest of Japan was looked at, though the memories made his blood boil, and he knew what sort of mistakes to avoid. The Japanese had surrendered prior to the depletion of their military forces, meaning that factions like the JLF could continue fighting even after the official end.

If Morocco was destined to become another Area of the Empire, then he wanted to ensure it did not have the capacity to engage in terrorism and resistance. Lelouch justified it to himself that it would be better in the end for the people of Morocco if they remained docile. However there was nothing he could do to stop the discrimination and oppression the natives were sure to face. Not yet anyway.

He was getting ahead of himself and snapped himself out of his thoughts. "Well then Alwin, the tasks at hand have been cleared. They have a gaping hole in their defences. Capturing Rabat is a formality at this point."

 **Lelouch vi Britannia**

Indeed it was a formality.

By sunrise all resistance inside of the city had been pacified. A host of important Moroccan officials had been captured inside of the Capital, namely the King of Morocco.

Despite being merely the figurehead of the nation, it would still be devastating to Moroccan morale for him to be captured.

Lelouch looked around the spotless throne room. He was inside of the Dar al-Makhzen, which translated to Royal Palace. It was the primary residence of the Moroccan King and had luckily been unharmed during the Britannian seizure of Rabat. As far as palaces went, it was nothing special. It was lavish and richly decorated, but little could match the scale of Pendragon Imperial Palace, or the sentimental value of the Aries Villa.

The room was rectangular, with a long red carpet stretching from the throne to the golden entrance gate. Large marble columns adorned with Arabic writing lined the sides of the room. Gold trim had been generously applied to as much of the room as possible. Large, beautifully designed windows were lined with gold. The tops and bottoms of the columns were adorned with gold. The steps leading up to the throne were painted with gold leaf, even the throne itself was largely made of gold.

The chair was large with a monstrously sized back. It was colored a luxurious shade of red with intricate dark designs sewn in. The legs of the chair were completely golden. The fronts of the armrests, were completely golden. Gold even flared out from the sides of the chair's back and outlined Lelouch's frame in gold.

Yes the palace may not be as nice as some of the ones he was used to in Pendragon, but the throne certainly held its own.

Lined up all along the edges of the carpet were Britannian officers in fresh, clean military uniforms. They stood with their backs ramrod straight and looked straight across at each other. Lelouch himself sat as regally as he could, in an imitation of his father, and tried to look imposing at the same time. The truth was he was a little too small for the throne, however he was assured the right camera angles would fix the minor issue.

Why, of course he was going to make this a media spectacle.

One did not capture an enemy monarch without broadcasting it to the world. It made Britannians feel superior and secure in their beliefs about the innate superiority of their race.

"We're broadcasting in 10, your highness." A man who was a part of the film crew informed him.

Lelouch nodded and fixed any errors in his posture as the camera began to train itself on his face. The man counted down the seconds as millions of Britannians worldwide were suddenly interrupted by a _breaking news broadcast_. He gave the prince a thumbs up as the cameras began playing.

"Greetings. I am Lelouch vi Britannia, Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, Seventeenth in line to the throne." He tilted his face upwards and extended his neck slightly towards the camera as had been advised. Apparently it made him look better on television. He made sure to plaster on a smile based completely on his memories of Schneizel's. It was smart to take cues from a master after all.

"As of today, I am happy to announce the capture of the Moroccan Capital of Rabat by the brave soldiers of the Second Imperial Army." He had been told to change out of his military uniform and into something more noble and fitting for a member of the Imperial Family, but he decided against it. Image was everything in Pendragon and he wanted to associate himself with the military victory that had just occurred.

"Acknowledging the futility of continued resistance, the now former King of Morocco has wisely decided to surrender to me." Lelouch extended a hand forwards and the camera panned to where he directed it: the entrance.

The large, golden gates opened and inside stepped a single man. The King of Morocco stepped forwards adorned in his royal regalia. The man normally just wore a suit, but Lelouch decided it would look better for him to dress as a proper monarch. He stepped forwards, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead, and moved past the long lines of Britannian officers.

Lelouch had discussed this entire event with the King immediately after his capture. He and his family would be unharmed in exchange for his surrender and agreement to star in this spectacle. The man had readily agreed.

As he came forwards and stopped in front of the steps leading up to Lelouch, a sudden flash of something could be seen in the man's eyes. Lelouch tensed as he wondered if perhaps the man's pride had resurged and he was going to somehow defy Britannia on national television. But then the strength from his shoulders seemed to sap and he kneeled down in front of Lelouch, looking to all the world a tired, defeated, old man.

The camera zoomed out to capture both Lelouch and the former King in the same shot. The Britannian Prince looking down on the defeated foreign monarch would be a scene regarded highly for years to come.

"Do you relinquish your claim to the throne of Morocco and accept the rule of Emperor Charles zi Britannia over your peoples?"

The man turned his gaze down towards the floor, shame evident on his face as he answered. "Yes… your highness." His accent was barely detectable and the words were clearly heard by the millions watching.

"Do you acknowledge defeat in this war and the futility of further resistance?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Very well then. As a Prince of the Empire I hereby accept your surrender. I also declare all further Moroccan resistance unlawful and foolish. The rest of the EU will soon learn the absolute might of our Holy Britannian Empire." Lelouch smiled at the camera and stood up after he finished speaking.

He summoned his inner Clovis as he prepared to speak the next three words.

"All hail Britannia!"

Immediately the gathered officers raised their fists and echoed the words.

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

"ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!"

Lelouch watched them continue the chant with a smile on his face. Yes, this was where he was destined to be. The throne in Rabat was only the beginning. This conquest was only the first of many.

And though he may resent many of the practices Britannia endorsed against its conquered subjects, he knew the best way for things to change would be with him.

As Emperor.

All hail Britannia indeed.

 **A.N**

 **Hey. I'm not particularly happy about this chapter but I hope that at least you all found some enjoyment in it. I have a long ways to do before I'll be happy with my writing, but hopefully I'll improve quickly as I continue to write this story.**

 **Ryder77: Yep! I will definitely expand on this when appropriate in the future. I'm glad you noticed.**

 **Mr Q:I'm glad you liked it. Monica's part in Chapter 5 was definitely my favorite part. It's always fun to write some Knightmare action. I hope you enjoyed some of Lelouch's tactics in this chapter ;)**

 **The Rupture: Haha, well I guess you got your wish somewhat. Although resistance is far from over in Morocco.**

 **Tertius711: Dauntless and Lelouch of Britannia are the two best Code Geass fanfics by far. They're also some of the best fanfics on this site period. I'm nowhere near them in terms of quality yet, but I hope to hold a candle to them as this story progresses and I improve. Thanks for the praise though!**

 **DarthMaine: I haven't seen the new Voltron series, although I might check it out now.**

 **Patjeeson: Yeah the timeline may be a little bit fiddly. I decided it would be a little too much work for not much added benefit if I wanted to make everything fit. But the events right now are taking place a year before Code Geass the show actually starts, in 2016 a.t.b rather than 2017. Lelouch is definitely different from his canon self, I hope some of that showed in this chapter.**

 **Redxlord: Thanks! I hope to make Monica as fleshed out a character as any from canon. She didn't have much of a role in this story, besides providing a POV, but I hope to expand on her more in future chapters.**

 **Zerofine: Thanks.**

 **Neongnome: Man S3 better be good. My brain is telling me that Code Geass ended on a perfect note in R2, but my gut says that any additional Code Geass is a good thing.**

 **Xtremeknight: I hope this update wasn't too late for you. I was sort of busy this week.**

 **Observer01: I'm glad you think so, thanks for the review.**

 **7th Kingdom: I really want to move towards Area Eleven so that we can see the canon characters, but I know this current arc is going to need a lot of groundwork before we can get there. Hope you stick around.**


	7. Interlude

**_VII: Interlude_**

 _Great Britannia: An Anthology of Britannian Culture by_ _ **Lysander Watts**_

 _ **St. Darwin's Day**_

" _St. Darwin Day, or St. Darwin's Day, is one of the premier holidays in the Holy Britannian Empire. It is used to honor and commemorate the life and works of Charles Darwin, whose philosophies are found in every corner of Britannian society._

 _Born in Alwintown, Pennsylvania, Charles Darwin would become one of the most decorated scientists and philosophers in human history. Known as a bright and inquisitive child, he would go on to study at the Imperial Academy of the Natural Sciences in New York._

 _Living in a time of religious turmoil and disruption, Darwin sought his own answer as to why humans came to be, and the purpose of life itself. Commandeering a steam boat owned by his friend and patron, Earl Jeremiah Wardes, he set sail to travel the world and investigate other living beings._

 _Famously, he came upon the Galapagos Islands, in present day Area Six, and discovered various different types of birds on the one island. They each possessed different biological characteristics, such as beak type, that enabled them to consume their preferred form of sustenance. He used evidence from that visit and others to publish his ground breaking findings in 1859,_ _ **On the Origin of Species**_ _._

 _Although the book would be banned for many years in the more religious nations of Europe, it was quickly adopted in Britannia. Pope Pius XI had been feuding with the reigning Emperor at the time, and the perpetually excommunicated Britannian royals began to abandon religion altogether. Instead of god, they pointed at natural selection and evolution as to the reason why they, and Britannia were at the top of the 'food chain'._

 _The philosophy would be used as a reason for why the Empire should continue to expand and subjugate lesser nations, for it was their right as the superior people._

 _Today one can observe brilliant fireworks shows and festivals all across the empire. Since its creation in 1978, the Pendragon Fireworks Festival on St. Darwin's Day has been the largest of its kind in the entire world. Children can be observed running around with their families to visit the various booths showcasing foods, and products, from all over the empire. Of course, the highlight of the night is when the Emperor delivers his St. Darwin's Day Speech, just after the penultimate fireworks display. Millions tune in to listen to the ideas and philosophies of Charles Darwin, created all those years ago."_

 _Morocco - March 16th, 2016 a.t.b, 227 RY - Rabat_

 **Lelouch vi Britannia** _\- Eleventh Prince, Seventeenth in line to the throne_

"Gentlemen. Enough, please." Lelouch held his hand up and silenced the officers.

He let out a sigh and shook his head. This meeting had been going on for hours and was devolving into something entirely unproductive. His eyelids began to feel like leaden weights were being attached to them, growing heavier with every passing minute.

"But it's a matter of safety!" The blonde officer broke the short-lived silence as he continued trying to argue his point.

The man's will had not dampened even after being met with rejection time and time again. His eyes seemed to be immune to gravity as the wide, alert blue eyes remained infuriatingly consistent. It had to be pills. He couldn't imagine having that level of energy, even in a youthful man, without some level of substance use.

'Performance enhancers' were common in the military, especially among the upper ranks. Abundant men of ambition, and not enough available promotions, left them wanting every possible edge.

A daily dose of amphetamines is as good as being the son of a Baron. That was one of the sayings bandied about during his time at boot camp. Lelouch didn't even mind it. If his officers wanted to pump themselves with chemicals to enhance their performance, why should he complain?

However that 'extra energy' was now biting him in the ass.

This needed to be dealt with before he unceremoniously fell asleep inside the Mobile Base.

"Enough, Major." Leaning forwards in his plush chair, he bore his gaze into the impudent young officer. "We are not segregating a quarter of the city away from its inhabitants in some futile pursuit of security."

The man's mouth began to twitch, it was obvious his self control had long been depleted, and he was preparing to retort.

Lelouch refused to give him any more opportunities. "If one more word comes out of your mouth, you will find yourself on the first truck to Tangier."

The Major's self control reasserted itself, clearly frightened by the prospect of being dismissed to the 'graveyard shift'. It seemed his cause had been what had kept him going and, as soon as he realized the futility, his drained body sagged down into his seat.

Perhaps it had been adrenaline, and not amphetamines, which had kept him going? Was a conversation with him really so similar to battlefield combat? It might prove interesting to think about, but, only at a later date.

He decided to throw the defeated man a bone. It wouldn't do to have his officers stop offering ideas in fear of reprisal. Despite what Monica teased, he did pay attention to what those outside the Royal Family had to say.

"Dietrich." It was his greatest plan yet to have the names of his officers on a placard in front of where they sat.

 _Adrian Dietrich_ , the laminated little sign, in front of the spirited blond, read.

"I am willing to examine a more well thought out, _written,"_ Lelouch stressed the word in fear the man would jump back up and begin speaking, "proposal submitted at a later date."

Now that he was dealt with...

"All right." He shook his head vigorously in what could be interpreted as a nod. Although, in reality, it was a way to stretch the aching muscles in his neck. After brushing away a few silken, strands of dark hair that had fallen in front of his eyes, he prepared to address the gathered officers. Hopefully for the final time tonight.

"The closing matter for this meeting will be the issue of Fez, and surrounding cities, in the eastern interior." Lelouch jabbed an index finger towards one of the Staff Officers who quickly pressed a few buttons on his computer keyboard.

A map of Morocco appeared on the central tactical display. Five large dots, indicating cities, appeared across the country. The major objectives were Tangier, Rabat, both outlined in blue, Fez, Casablanca, and Marrakesh, those three outlined in red.

"I am granting General Alwin the use of XIII, and XIV corps to subjugate the east. Along with them he will have the use of three Knightmare Units, 'Sigma', 'Epsilon', and 'Bellum'." The finality in his tone made it clear, this wasn't yet another topic 'to be discussed'. No, this was him informing them of already made plans about to be set into motion.

"I intend to advance on Casablanca as soon as possible. By the end of March we should have the vast majority of Moroccan food production under our control. At that point the campaign is as good as over." He stood up from his chair, the joints cracked in his back, followed by a blissful sensation. "That is all. Dismissed."

He probably should have been a little more detailed and meticulous about the planned operation, but he couldn't find the strength to carry on the meeting for much longer. Best to wrap it up before diving into anything long, and drawn out. Even his dismissal had come out as half a yawn, which was rather telling.

Some of the men looked a bit put off by the it, but fearing the same potential fate as Dietrich, they relented. The longtable, and the mobile base as a whole, was quickly vacated by the departing officers. The ones commanding the eastward bound divisions left the quickest to make preparations for the departure.

Lelouch bid his goodbye to Alwin, who likely had a long night ahead of him, and made his way towards his quarters in pursuit of blissful sleep.

Settled inside of his comfortable _emperor_ sized bed in the Mobile Base, surrounded by soft silken blankets and plush, cotton pillows on all sides, he finally had the opportunity to relax and unwind. Now that the meetings had ended, for today, no more reason existed to force himself to stay awake and alert.

He sighed in satisfaction as the warm grip of oblivion began to envelop his consciousness. The surroundings darkened, and began to travel far outside his perception. Within moments of getting into the bed he fell aslee-

The world rushed back to him as sharp, cacophanus knocks rang out against his metallic, reinforced door in quick succession. The noise produced was piercing and high, far too distracting for him to ignore.

What god awful, agent of pure evil wanted his attention now? Ripping the covers off of him, he stood and turned on the light before approaching the door.

There were very few people who had the security clearance to even approach his personal quarters anymore. After the recent attempt on his life, via bomb, the protection around him had grown tenfold. He no longer took up residence in the former King's palace, instead he stayed inside of the heavily guarded _G-1 Mobile Base_. Officers had to make appointments with his new secretary, the Lieutenant Ashley Rodgers, to meet with him now.

The sooner he got rid of this person, the sooner he could return to his slumber.

Squinting at lights, he pulled the door open at the precise time the person waiting outside, Monica, had begun to attempt another series of knocks. Her smooth hand, curled into a fist swiped through air as nothing was there to stop its course. She stumbled towards Lelouch, momentarily off balance, before righting herself, with embarrassment written all over her flushed face.

His weariness did not detract from the comedic display.

"Is there something you needed?" The words came out breathily, uttered simultaneously with a sigh, and any amusement he felt did not show on his stern face.

Monica straightened her back and cleared her throat, coughing into a closed fist, before looking up at Lelouch. "I wanted to talk to you about your security."

The very word _security_ brought a scowl to his face. "Just what has Dietrich been telling you? I have heard more than enough about this for my _lifetime_. It is astonishing that I should have to repeat this fact; I am not relocating 70,000 people from the city!"

Unperturbed by his sudden loss of temper, she instead adopted an expression of pure confusion. Her eyebrows came closer together and her mouth opened a couple of inches. "What?"

Oh _right._ She hadn't been a part of the meeting.

"Well, anyways." Lelouch spoke quickly, trying to avoid the revelation of his mistake. "If not that, what else are you talking about?"

All was forgotten if Monica's face was anything to go by, and she spoke in the same tone she had started with.

"Oh, well um, Jerry and I have been talking-"

"Jerry?" He delivered the question in deadpan.

"Jeremiah, I mean, I just call him Jerry because he starts scowling and his face puffs up, it looks kind of like an orange by the way, and he starts to scold m-" Lelouch couldn't help but recoil at the rate of her speech, and what the hell was she talking about? It certainly didn't sound like anything that warranted her waking him up in the middle of the night.

"Monica… Maybe this isn't the best time for this discussion? How about you bring this back up in the morning?" He tried to be placating, however it accidentally came out as aggravation.

She shook her head furiously. "No, no! I'm sorry! Look, I'll be concise. You. Bomb. Assassination. Dead. Guards. Need. More." She bit her lip in search of more words to throw in. "Uh… You. Dead. Bad?"

All that was left for him to do was to stare at her, absolutely baffled. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sucked in copious amounts of air before letting it all out in a long sigh.

"You know what, just come in." Lelouch turned from Monica and headed deeper inside of his, suddenly invaded, room. He sat down on a corner of his large bed, hands placed on soft, silken sheets that he wished he could rest his head on instead.

She stepped inside of the room, closing the door behind her, and sat down in the solitary leather armchair besides his cluttered work desk.

"Now Monica…" He began softly, and slowly, as if he were speaking to a child half her age. "Please explain things in full sentences."

"Right… You need actual bodyguards for the future, people whose sole duty is to protect you." She explained.

Well that was at least a more rational proposal than what Dietrich had suggested.

"I'm surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers every waking day whose sole duty is to die at my command." He pointed out.

"Yes, but what if it's some disgruntled officer, or a bribed soldier, or anything? Even if you only get injured, just imagine how terrible that would be!" Her voice intensified and grew more emotionally charged as she continued speaking.

Lelouch was a little touched by the concern, although he still doubted the necessity of it. "Unless it puts me into a coma, I can still order you, and everyone else around just fine from a hospital bed. Not to mention, Alwin is capable of carrying out my tasks."

Monica's long, blonde hair flew all around her as she shook her head. "No! Just think beyond the campaign, about life in general! Even your sister, Princess Cornelia, she has an entire knighthood order dedicated to her safety."

He was silent after the outburst, however she looked at him and anxiously waited for him to speak. After a few moments had passed, he finally gave in and sighed. "Just when did my subordinates become so insufferable with their tenacity and stubbornness?"

He smiled at the girl who was leaning forwards, dangerously close to the edge of her seat. "This isn't some sort of power play to get appointed as my Knight, is it?"

Although he had intended it to be teasing, she took the accusation of underlying motivations seriously and immediately began spouting her denials.

"No! Of course not!"

"Good. You know what gets said about a male royal and a female Knight right? What with the Knight needing to be close at all times." Lelouch smirked at her as Monica's face began to turn red with the implication. "Or perhaps that's why you've decided to barge into my room in the middle of the night while I'm heading to bed?"

"You're the worst." She huffed with a flushed face. "I can't believe I was concerned with your safety."

He laughed and moved to properly get into bed, as she stood and headed for the exit. "Make sure to lock the door once you leave. It would be a shame to get assassinated because of your negligence."

"A shame..."

"Oh, and Monica?" She turned her head back towards him from where she was just outside the room, one hand already pushing the door closed.

"...Yes?"

"I'll think about your proposal."

She gave him a little smile and closed the door.

He once again prepared to fall back into the sweet, sweet release of sleep that had eluded him for so long.

"Wait!" A muffled voice yelled from outside the door. "Which proposal!? Do you mean the Knight of Honor or some other thing?"

Lelouch forced his eyes to stay shut and pulled the covers up, over his head, to block out as much noise as possible. The forces of the outside world would not pull him away from his desperately needed rest once again. He didn't care if a reenactment of the Great Fire of Rome was occurring in Rabat. Sleep came first.

 _Outside Rabat_

 **Jeremiah Gottwald**

He wondered if he had displeased his prince in some way.

Jeremiah used to have quite the future ahead of him. Fresh out of the academy, his father had 'earned' him a spot in Empress Marianne's personal guard. It was well known that the best way to advance in Britannian society was to ingratiate yourself with royalty, even the so called 'commoner empress' would do.

He quickly came to respect the fiery and vivacious young empress who mentored him in matters of Knightmare combat. What had begun as a way to climb up the ranks, turned into actual loyalty for both her, and her children.

Lady Marianne's assassination was a turning point in his life. He mourned her death for as long as was proper publicly, and still to this day privately. Jeremiah was more than willing to carry on her legacy by guiding and protecting her two young children, Prince Lelouch, and Princess Nunnally. However within days of the assassination he learned that Prince Lelouch had been exiled, his title stripped from him.

Suddenly he was left in Pendragon with no remaining Vi Britannia to pledge himself to. He had become a servant without a master, a knight without a lord.

Still, his father being a Margrave ensured that his career was far from over. He received an officer's command in the Britannian Military and participated in the short Second Pacific War. Having had exclusive Knightmare training, with Lady Marianne, he distinguished himself on the battlefield and garnered a promotion to Major by the war's end.

When the order came in from Prince Lelouch's elder siblings to search for the missing brother and sister, he threw himself into the task. Countless nights went by, with Jeremiah surviving on copious amounts of coffee, as he tried to discover the pair. He sifted through the ruins of old Japan, desperately hoping to at least find their bodies for the sake of a proper burial. Miraculously one day the word went out that a squad, Renfeld's he still remembered, had found the missing prince and his sister.

Alive.

Unfortunately Jeremiah hadn't been the one to find the boy, but he didn't let selfishness get in the way of his jubilation. The recovered royals were shipped back to Pendragon to have their fates decided on by the Emperor, while Jeremiah remained in Area Eleven.

Viceroy Aster had recently been appointed in the area, and he was looking at Jeremiah to become a major military official in the country. Even his friends, Viletta, and Kewell, were nudging him forwards as the leader of their, recently formed, 'purist faction' that had quickly become a powerful force in the Viceroy's regime. He might have obtained Bartley's rank of General, with the esteemed title of Margrave to back it up. Second only to the Viceroy, that could have been his future.

But he turned it all down.

Jeremiah turned in his command and placed himself on the first flight back to Pendragon. His friends didn't understand. They had no notion of choosing loyalty to a liege lord over personal advancement. " _Why connect yourself to some little prince who won't achieve anything? Why tie a lead weight to your career?"_

He didn't listen, because he didn't care. Prince Lelouch could go on to be a socialite, or simply stay secluded and forgotten in Aries Villa, he would still follow him. It was the debt he owed to Lady Marianne, the debt he was intent on fulfilling through a lifetime of service to her blood.

The Prince had been wary when Jeremiah pledged himself to him, it would have been foolish not to be. However he was sorely lacking in allies solely dedicated to him in the capital. Cornelia and Schneizel might have had ulterior motives for bringing him back, as far as he knew. It was to Jeremiah's delight that the prince showed an interest in military affairs. It meant he could teach the young man everything he knew about commanding, and piloting a Knightmare.

Over time he had proven that his loyalty was second to none. He stunted his own career by six years to serve the Prince and did not regret it a single bit.

Which begged the question once more, had he displeased his lord in some way?

Being placed in some dark crossroads to inspect incoming farmers sending their goods to market was not where he should be. He was serving as a glorified toll booth operator. Jeremiah should be at His Highness' side, advising and defending him. He should be elsewhere, fighting in glorious battles to win victories and honors for Lelouch.

Admittedly there were no battles going on.

But still, it rankled him to be out here, not even in a Knightmare, inspecting carts and wagons filled with produce.

"This one's clear sir, just some fertilizer." The man had his entire face buried into the crook of his elbow as his free, gloved hand dug around inside the 'product'.

"Pretty sure we could tell by the smell Gibbons." Lionel Richard chuckled from besides Jeremiah.

"Just trying to be thorough cap."

"All right, you're free to go." Jeremiah spoke blandly, this was the 43rd cart thus far, and motioned for the man to proceed.

When the Moroccan gave him a confused look and said something in Arabic, Jeremiah sighed and motioned to the dark-skinned translator standing besides him.

The man, Yousef Zayed, repeated Jeremiah's words in the farmer's language, who quickly nodded and slapped his donkey on the ass, making it walk.

Perhaps seeing the scowl that Jeremiah wore on his face, Lionel nudged him and laughed. "Not very prestigious is it Major?"

"Of course not. But it's his Highness' orders, we must carry them out." Jeremiah replied, he was not about to openly display his grievances and defy Prince Lelouch in public.

"At least our shift's gonna be up soon eh? Can't wait to head back to base and have some more of that fine ass French wine we got."

He nodded, the wine _was_ rather nice. The EU embargo had left Britannia rather dry as far as good alcohol went, luckily Morocco seemed to contain more than enough to sate the officers.

"Stay focused Richards. We can talk more about wine on the walk back." He replied.

"More like hobble, eh cap?" The corporal with the shit covered hand spoke up, before keeling over in laughter.

Lionel scowled and walked over, kicking the hyena-like Gibbons in the back, before immediately recoiling in pain. "Damn!"

The sight of the Captain hopping on one leg and clutching the other in his hands only served to intensify the corporal's amusement.

"I'm gonna kick your ass when this heals up Gibbons, you can bet your balls on it!"

It miffed Jeremiah a little that Captain Lionel Richards was here due to his injuries precluding him from any intensive work, whereas he was perfectly healthy. Eyeing the corporal rolling around on the muddy ground, still wearing the filthy glove, Jeremiah hoped that his prince would come to his senses sooner than later.

Sighing at his inability to retaliate towards his comrade, Lionel turned to Jeremiah and pointed at the incoming cart. "I'll handle this one."

The cart was larger than the other ones Jeremiah had encountered so far today. It was being driven by two donkeys who seemed like they were having trouble moving it along.

The man walking besides it appeared about 40 years of age. His black, short hair, was tinged with paler sections. The story was the same for his graying beard which hung as a goatee from the man's weary, lived-in face. A harsh, pink scar extended from the left side of his temple, down to his jaw. His brown skin was dark and leathery, telling a tale of a man who had been in the sun for most of his life. Complete with dirty, loose clothes, he looked the part of a farmer.

Strangely, though, Jeremiah felt something off in the way he held himself. It was hard to describe, even to himself, but most of the farmers had a passive stance and were quite wary of the Britannian officials. This man was eager, maybe even aggressive, as he walked ahead of his cart to greet them.

"Hello!" The man spoke in rough, broken english, though it was understandable.

"Do you speak English?" Jeremiah asked the man, wondering if the greeting was simply a one off thing.

"Just food!" Was the man's strange reply.

"Just food?" Jeremiah repeated slowly.

"Just food!"

He turned to Yousef. "Ask him what he's carrying, and I don't want to be told 'just food'."

The translator nodded and stepped towards the man, asking him something in Arabic. The man replied and Yousef turned back towards Jeremiah. "He says he's carrying fruits. Mainly oranges, but clementines, grapes, and apples too." A smile slowly spread across Yousef's face. "In other words, just food."

This Moroccan bastard was pulling his leg! He could see the mirth in Yousef's eyes. Unfortunately the translator was necessary to carry on their inspections, still, he wanted to walk over and sock him in the gut.

"Looks like that's true." Came the voice of Lionel as he dug through the man's cart. "Hell of a lot of oranges Major, no wonder these donkeys look half dead."

"Just food!" The man's voice and words were starting to aggravate Jeremiah at this point.

"Gibbons, watch him. I'm going to go take a look at the cart myself." He ordered the corporal who had, finally, disposed of the glove.

Walking over to where Lionel was, Jeremiah saw nothing wrong with the man's initial assessment. The top of the cart was absolutely covered with the oranges. He dug his hand deeper and pulled out bushels of grapes, apples, and even strawberries.

Wait, strawberries?

Now Jeremiah was no farmer, and damn any man who joked about it, but his father's estate had a large Orange Farm on the property. He remembered asking one of the farmhands one day, sick of eating oranges, why they couldn't grow strawberries instead? The woman had replied and told Jeremiah that the climate necessary to grow oranges and strawberries were almost completely different, one was suited to tropical, warm conditions, the other to cooler ones.

What kind of a farmer would have such a strange assortment of fruits that couldn't possibly have come from the same farm? Not to mention, an experienced farmer should know the right kind and amount of animals to easily pull his cart along. It just didn't make sense.

"Lionel, I'm going to take the back off of this cart and empty it out."

The Captain was surprised by the announcement and looked at him, confused. "Why? This is the last one for our shift, sooner we do this the sooner we head back."

Jeremiah ignored him. "Stand aside." He firmly grabbed the flimsy wood protecting the food from falling out and began to pull on it. Almost immediately the cart began splintering as one of the connected sides came off.

The man, a few feet away, suddenly ran over to Jeremiah and waved his hands around in the air. "Just food! Just food!" He shouted.

Jeremiah scowled at Gibbons. "I thought I told you to watch him Corporal? Detain him."

The soldier was perhaps a bit caught off guard by Jeremiah's sudden harshness towards the farmer, however he quickly rushed to follow through with the order. He grabbed the man's hands out of the air and pinned them against his back, restricting movement.

He plied off the remaining section of the wood and stepped aside as the spherical oranges tumbled out. Jeremiah sifted through the remaining fruit, shoving the leftover strawberries and grapes onto the dirty ground. When it was all done he was left with a bare, plain plank of wood covering the bottom of the cart.

"Uh… whoops?" Gibbons said sheepishly, eyeing the apparently innocent farmer he was detaining.

"What were you thinking Jeremi-" Lionel was cut off, as he suddenly lifted the loose plank of wood to reveal another compartment underneath.

Assault rifles, grenade launchers, submachine guns, handguns, and hundreds of cases of ammunition covered the _actual_ floor of the cart. Some of the guns were old and weathered, whereas others looked sleek, black, and shiny. It was no wonder the beasts of burden were having such a hard time carrying the cart, the arsenal likely weighed more than the actual fruit itself.

Jeremiah turned and gave Lionel a harsh glare. "You were saying?"

The captain could only gape and offer a mumbled apology.

Turning towards the detained Moroccan Jeremiah could see the man's eyes widen as he tried to back away from Jeremiah, only to find himself stopped by Gibbons' stern grip. Realizing there was no escape the man had tensed up in fear.

"Keep a good grip on him, we'll be doing interrogations later." Jeremiah ordered Gibbons, who had realized the seriousness of the moment and sobered up. The corporal nodded and tightened his grip on the 'farmer', if the man's wince was anything to go by.

He pulled off the handheld radio from his belt and held it up to his mouth. "This is Major Gottwald, I am ordering a complete cession of any carts travelling into or around Rabat. Unless the Prince himself says otherwise, DO NOT let anything inside of the city. Make any travelling farmers stand outside for the entire night if you have to." He returned the machine to his hip and turned to Lionel.

"Get some of the squads further down to help you secure the weapons."

The Captain nodded. "And you, Major?"

"I need to go inform the Prince and the rest of high command."

Hopefully his liege didn't mind being woken up, it was important after all.

-  
 **A.N**

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter! I feel a lot better about this one than I did about Ch.6, so hopefully that's a good sign.**

 **It's rough but I'd say we're getting to the halfway point of the story's first arc. I have a general idea for how that'll go, although nothing is really set in stone. Thanks to everyone who have following the story so far, I really appreciate it.**

 **7th Kingdom: Thanks. I'm trying to give as many chances as possible to showcase other characters. It won't be very entertaining if the entire story is just Lelouch and a crowd of faceless soldiers. Not sure about when/if the personal guard will be formed, and who will be on it. Although I can see it happening by the end of this first arc.**

 **Guest: To be honest I'm not quite sure. I haven't seen much of Akito but I can definitely see circumstances where characters like Akito or Leila may play a role, however it probably won't be anytime soon.**

 **Redxlord: ;)**

 **Neongnome: Yep. For now it's just been fighting against infantry and tanks, so there really isn't very much difficulty in the combat. Ofc things are far from over in this campaign. I'm glad you thought the tactics were good, I want to make sure I can match the military expertise Lelouch had in the actual show. I take a lot of inspiration from stuff like** ** _Lelouch of Britannia_** **, which is by far the best war focused Code Geass fic out there.**

 **xtremeknight58: Yeah, she's definitely on that level. The problem is that early on in Code Geass there really weren't any special knightmares or anything. Even things like the Lancelot and the Guren were developed and employed a year after where the story is atm. However she'll definitely be able to showcase her skills pretty soon in the future.**

 **Mr. Q: True, if uses for him come up then Lelouch will certainly take advantage. Although for now his use is pretty much just to give Lelouch some publicity and fame.**

 **Patjeeson: Thanks! I hope I can make the military stuff even better in future chapters.**

 **OBSERVER01: That's actually not a bad idea. I might done it this chapter if I hadn't written it before your review lol. I think I might make something similar happen anyway pretty soon.**

 **Tertius: I might have dates mixed up but Akito's participation came later on in the interlude between R1 and R2. So that would be a year or two after where the story is currently. Of course things could happen earlier than canon, though I can't say for sure. I definitely think he and Leila are interesting characters to employ, and will almost certainly be used if I have an EU POV.**

 **Doommajor: Yeah, I think some fight scenes can be pretty boring just being seen from a tactical perspective. Hopefully including on the ground perspectives spicens things up.**

 **Prodigal Knight: First off, I love this review. There's so much meat in it. Honestly just from reading it you've given me a lot to think about, so thanks for that. You're right that there's no way Lelouch can somehow conquer Britannia with just one single, not even complete, Imperial Army. Lelouch broadcasting the Moroccan King's surrender, although it has very little actual meaning for the war, was a way to sort of introduce himself publicly to the Britannian citizens. He's been fairly unknown up until this command given to him by Cornelia, and he certainly wants to milk it as much as possible. The stuff on the senate is definitely seriously interesting, I think politics is definitely going to be big in the future. Right now Lelouch is pretty consumed with military affairs, but the campaign, and the war, aren't going to last forever. Considering Jeremiah took over control of Area Eleven after Clovis' death, I think the Purists are basically the #2 force driving Area Eleven. They were sort of defanged and dismantled by infighting thanks to the 'Orange' scandal. However they will certainly have a role to play once Lelouch does get to Area Eleven, however that might happen. Thanks for allowing me to inflate this story's word count by replying to a review as big as yours.**


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